She Who Fights Monsters
by acevolkner
Summary: Part of the Scarlet Sapphire series. Follows Commander Shepard through her hunt for Sovereign as she discovers her place in the Galaxy and little bit about herself along the way. How droll. Better than it sounds, hopefully. But I'll let you be the judge. Rated T because of reasons.
1. Everything Changes

**::ll:: All these toys belong to Bioware; I just smush them together and make kissy noises. ::ll::  
**

**AN – **Yep, you asked for it, now you're getting it. It's only another gosh darned ME playthrough! Sorry for the delay, been trying to get back into drawing and stuff, trying to make a good cover photo for this. I've got my Shep pick down but I can't draw Liara to save myself. Gah.  
- Not much to report, other than we'll be sailing slightly left of canon at times, partly because it's fun and partly because it already follows my slightly different interpretation of Liara and Shep. So yeah.  
- There are two prequels to this, not required reading but it could help flesh things out a touch. Main things you need to worry about is Shep and Liara have previous and a certain Mr Vega (HE NEEDS MORE LOVE) may or may not make an appearance. Other than that, we should start out on familiar ground.  
- Title sucks balls but I'm struggling to come up with a better one. Any input would be appreciated. As it stands, don't be surprised for it to change in the near future.  
- Before settling on SWFM, I seriously considered calling it 'Great Ex-Spectre-ations'. I'm terrible at this.  
- PS, I super hate how ff doesn't let you use the pointy brackets. ruined the aesthetics of the first part of my story dammit!

ONWARD!

.

* * *

**2183 CE** - _Serpent Nebula/Widow Cluster/Citadel/Presidium_  
_**Human Embassy**_

:::: ALLIANCE MILITARY DATABASE  
:::: ESTABLISHING SECURE CONNECTION  
:::: SECURE CONNECTION CONFIRMED  
:::: PREPARING TO TRANSFER PROFILE DATA  
:::: DECRYTING DATA  
**:!: **CORRUPTION DETECTED  
:::: PLEASE WAIT WHILE PROFILE IS RECONSTRUCTED

The Prime Minister sighed at the flashing terminal, before returning his gaze to his two associates. To his left, Anderson began rifling through his small sheaf of papers, drawing out the old print copy of the files. Contemplatively swirling the whisky in his glass, Kohl turned his attention to Udina.

"So what do we know about this Shepard? She's home grown?"

Udina sniffed at the name but nodded, answering his question nonetheless.

"Earthborn, but no record of her family."

"Doesn't have one, officially," Anderson chipped in, having extracted the file he was hunting. "Grew up on the streets. Learned to look after herself when no one else would."

Eyes flicking over the file, Kohl gave a surprised hum.

"_She_ was Blitz Barbie?"

Anderson nodded, a gentle smile playing across his face.

"Held off enemy forces single handed until reinforcements arrived. Only suffered a single fatality. She's the only reason Elysium isn't a ghost town."

Udina glared at him, muttering under his breath.

"Well, I suppose we can't question her courage." He puffed his chest slightly, more confident with a renewed smugness in his voice. "Remember, she saw her whole unit die on Akuze. She could have some serious emotional scars-"

"Every soldier has scars. Shepard's a survivor." Anderson cut across, gruff. Udina, undeterred, tipped his chair back, confident in having won the conversation as he continued uninterrupted.

"-_scars_ that the psychiatric reports suggest led to her getting most of her unit killed on Torfan."

"_She got the job done_. No matter what the cost." The marine bit back, indignant. Shepard may have her faults, as everyone did, but it would be a cold day in hell before Anderson would let anyone question her ability as a soldier. Next to him, Kohl nodded idly, ignorant to the vehemence between his two companions. The Ambassador leant forward in his seat, glaring at the Captain.

"Is that the kind of person we want protecting the galaxy?"

"That's the only kind of person who _can_ protect the galaxy."

Taking in a deep breath, the Prime Minister placed the file back on the desk, returning his attention fully to the conversation at hand.

"Humanity needs a hero, and Shepard's the best we've got."

Udina's eyes narrowed as he moved to pick up the receiver, grumbling.

"I'll make the call."

Kohl, pleased with the results of the meeting, turned to Anderson as he moved onto the next topic on the itinerary.

"So, looking forward to welcoming our new Turian guest?"

.

* * *

_Bachjret Ward_  
_**Flux**_

Returning the thoroughly swabbed glass to its shelf, the Salarian Bartender looked up, his eye caught by a human, waving him across. Making his way to the other end of the bar, the Salarian idly noted the man's penchant for facial fur. He shook his head gently. _Unsanitary. Aesthetically questionable_. Body hair was certainly one thing the Bartender did not envy about the mammalian species, or their males' penchant for growing what they called 'a sweet scruff'. At least this one kept the top of his head in check with a hat. _Horns much more preferable_. Approaching the man, the Bartender gave a smile and small nod.

"Howdy. What can I do you for?"

"Bloody Mary, light on the Vodka."

The Salarian paused as his mind rattled through the vast catalogue of human cocktails. When he first set out to learn the 'Ledger of Terran Tipples', he was awed at the sheer size of the thing, and even more impressed at the several volumes that followed it. _One thing about humans; they certainly knew how to party._ Arriving at the required drink, the bartender frowned slightly, shooting the human a confused look.

"Light on the vodka? That would leave you with spicy tomato juice?" In response, the man only gave a small laugh, conceding the point.

"Then I guess I'll be having spicy tomato juice."

Taking the man's credit chit, the Bartender ran it through his machine before fixing the drink, striking up casual conversation while he did so.

"Seen a lot of Humans tonight laying off the sauce. Hope it's nothing permanent, otherwise this place'd go bankrupt in a week." Sliding the glass over to the man, the Salarian watched as he took a tentative sip before giving an approving nod.

"Yeah. Nothing much. Our ship's just came into dock so the Captain can have a quick meeting; he gave us grunts a few hours R&R. Technically we're still on duty, but that doesn't mean we can't come down here and enjoy this place and its... _ambiance_."

The Bartender grinned and opened his mouth to respond. What words he planned on saying were discarded however as another customer sidled up at the opposite end of the bar.

"Duty calls." With an apologetic smile and quick nod at the man, the Salarian hurried off. Now alone, the marine turned around to survey the crowd. It was mostly human, clad in blue fatigues as they cut loose. _So loose_, the marine mused with a grin, _maybe they were touching the sauce. Just a little._

One, however, sat quietly at a table alone, nursing a drink of her own as she stared out the expanse of window, lost in her thoughts. The marine caught her attention with a small wave of his hand as he took the seat opposite. She acknowledged him with a curt nod.

"Joker."

"Commander Sourpuss."

The Commander shot him a look that would have been scathing, if not for the small quirking of her lip at the comment. Easing himself into the seat, Joker regarded Shepard for a moment as her gaze returned to the window.

"So, what's up?"

"Nothin' much."

"Something is." He persisted, only to get a small shrug of the shoulders in the way of a response.

"Just, thinkin'."

"'Bout what?"

"Stuff, I guess."

Joker's head tilted back as he let out an exaggerated groan. The Commander's brow furrowed slightly at his reaction.

"What?"

"You! It's like trying to squeeze blood from a turnip!"

"So I'm a vegetable now, Lieutenant?"

"Going by _your_ social skills? Maybe."

This got a small bark of laughter from the Commander before she returned to a mockingly serious tone.

"All I'm hearing's insubordination against a superior officer. I could have you on latrine duties by tomorrow morning, and I'm sure Anderson wouldn't mind his favourite pilot getting a little dirty for once."

"Hey, hey," he rescinded, holding his hands up in defeat. "I'm just trying to inject a little laughter into the discussion and get to know my Executive Officer better."

Shepard regarded the man as she took a sip from her glass.

"Why?"

"Because it's been three months since the Normandy crew assembled and apart from _Biotic Elvis_ over there, I'm the closest thing you've got to a friend on that ship. And any way, people with our... _disability_ have to stick together, y'know?"

It was Joker's turn to take a drink and Shepard peered at him quizzically as he did so. Opening her mouth, the Commander spoke slowly, still struggling to catch his meaning.

"Being ginger isn't a disability, Moreau-"

Joker snorted into his drink and hastily wiped his mouth.

"I wasn't talking about _that_. I was referring to our shared inability to tango."

Shepard collapsed back into her chair, giving an overly indignant huff.

"Why does everyone think I've got two left feet? Just because I choose _not_ to dance doesn't mean I _can't_."

"Until I get some hard evidence to the contrary, in the court of Joker; I'm afraid you're guilty until proven innocent, Ma'am."

Shepard leaned forward onto the table, pointing at the marine with a rebuttal on her tongue when she was distracted by a chirping of her Omnitool. Reading the new message, the Commander's featured flattened as she let out a small hum. At Joker's inquiry, she sighed.

"That's my shore leave cut short. Seems our new guest showed up early, wanting a tour." Heaving herself out the seat, Shepard flicked off a small salute to her companion. Turning, she tagged out with another marine who had been coming to join them with a drink of his own, and whispered conspiratorially in his ear.

Alenko sat down in the newly vacated seat, only to be met with a glare, dripping with suspicion.

"What was all that about?"

"I'm not sure. Apparently she wants me to get you disbarred. Whatever that means."

Joker snorted, returning to his drink as he watched the Commander disappear through the door. Only when he was sure she was gone did he speak up again.

"Hey, Kaidan, how'd you do it?"

"What?"

"Be her buddy. She doesn't let anyone get close. Every time I try to strike up conversation, she always deflects anything that might give her away. Hell, last week, I asked if she had any family, ten minutes later I'm giving off this big spiel about living with Vroliks. I didn't even remember I'd asked her anything until she was half way back down the ship. What's so special about you that lets her open up?"

Kaidan shrugged as he contemplated the question.

"We've known each other for years; she used to date my old buddy from Brain Camp. When he died, we got over it together; traded old war stories over a few, remembering the good old days, y'know? She was never one for making friends any way, but after he died? She threw herself into her work, didn't have a life outside the mission. The fact that she even came out at all tonight is a big step up from a couple of years ago. And the fact she managed to put up with your conversation without feeling compelled to punch you? Nothing short of a miracle." He ended with a small grin. Leaning back, Joker dramatically brought his hands to his chest, a pained expression playing out over his face.

"Oh, Alenko, you wound me with your razor sharp wit!"

Kaidan let out a soft snort as he drained his glass. Placing it on the table, he studied it for a few moments more as a sombre tint fell over his features.

"Y'know, I'm probably her best friend, but I don't even know her full name."

"Seriously? Why don't you just look it up?" In response, Kaidan gave another shrug.

"I could, but I've known her for ten years. There's gotta be some reason it's never came up. And any way, you know how she is with her personal space. Remember Jenkins on our first shore leave? Tried to bake her a birthday cake and ended up wearing it, all because he read the date in her file instead of talking to her first."

Joker gave a small murmur of agreement and the pair lapsed into a short silence, only to be interrupted by the dual chirpings of their Omnitools. With a wistful sigh, they got to their feet and made their way out of the club. Holding the door open, Kaidan spoke up.

"Hey, so why are you so interested in Shepard all of a sudden? Don't tell me you're getting the hots for her already."

"C'mon! Even if it didn't break regs, it would sure as hell as break my pelvis. You've seen her in action, imagine her in bed; she'd snap me like a twig."

Kaidan grinned as he responded, his tone laced with mirth.

"Oh I don't know, I have it on good authority she can be a very gentle and caring lover."

Joker only snorted in reply.

"Yeah, once you thaw her out all the ice."

.

* * *

_Exodus Cluster / Utopia System  
_**SSV Normandy**

Joker's fingers danced over the orange screens in front of him as the Normandy gently drifted out of the relay jump.

"All systems online, drift; just under 1500K."

"1500 is good. Your Captain will be pleased."

Listening until the owner of the sub harmonic thrum's footsteps vanished, Joker let out an agitated huff, shaking his head as he continued to monitor the systems.

"Gah, I hate that guy."

Kaidan's hands slowed as he turned to look at the pilot, a bemused smirk on his face.

"Nihlus gave you a compliment, so... _you hate him_?"

"Look, you remember to zip up your jumpsuit on the way out of the bathroom? That's good. I just jumped us half way across the galaxy and hit a target the size of a pinhead_. That's incredible! _Besides, Spectres are trouble. I just don't like having him aboard. Call me paranoid."

With a shake of his head, Kaidan returned his focus to his work as he continued the conversation.

"_Fine_. You're paranoid. The Council helped fund this project; they have a right to send someone to keep an eye on their investment."

"Yeah, that's the _official_ story. But only an idiot believes that."

A third voice responded this time, causing the pilot to jump in his chair.

"Mmhm. They don't send Spectres on shakedown runs. Something's weird. I can feel it."

"_God damn, Ma'am! _How do you manage to sneak around a ship in full armour? You got silencers built into that thing?" Joker gave himself a shake, calming down. "But you agree yeah? There _is_ more than the Captain's letting on-?"

It was a tinny voice that interrupted this time, reverberating from the speakers on the console.

"Joker, Status report."

"Just cleared the Mass Relays, Captain. Stealth systems engaged. Everything looks solid."

"Good. Find a comm. buoy and link us into the home network. I want mission reports relayed back to the Alliance Brass before we reach Eden Prime."

"Aye aye, Captain. Oh, and better brace yourself, sir, I think the Spectre's headed your way."

A crackled sigh made its way over the comm. system.

"_He's already here,_ Lieutenant."

Shepard struggled to tame the noise that escaped her throat as she glanced over at Alenko, currently containing himself with silent laughter. Below she could see Joker's shoulders slump and could swear she felt the heat radiating from his face. The crackled voice continued, terse.

"Tell Commander Shepard to meet me in the comm. room for a debriefing."

Killing the connection, Joker cradled his face in his hands as Shepard and Kaidan made sounds of equal amusement and consolation. Groaning, the pilot looked up.

"You get that Commander?"

"Loud and clear. He sounds angry. And for once, it doesn't sound like it's _entirely_ your fault."

With a final shake of her head, Shepard took pity on the man, patting him gently on the shoulder before leaving.

.

* * *

Jenkins trailed the Doctor up the stairs, his arms flailing wildly as his expression contorted into a myriad of over exaggerated emotions.

"I'm just sayin', Doc, I grew up on Eden Prime. Place is a snore; no Spectre in their right mind would come within fifty parsecs of the place unless there was something serious going on. That Nihlus dude is holding out on us, I'm tellin' you."

Stopping in front of the Galaxy map, Chakwas sighed as she attempted to recall why exactly she was humouring the eager marine.

"That's crazy Dicky, the Captain's in charge here. He won't be pushed into taking orders from a Spectre."

At this Jenkins raised a finger whilst shaking his head, an innocently smug grin playing across his features. Chakwas gave a silent groan, deflating slightly at what was about to come. While his youthful exuberance was a delightful change from the stony faced marines she was used to dealing with, his encyclopaedic knowledge all forms of law enforcement had a tendency to grind on even the most patient of listener's nerves. It had even earned him a bloody nose and frosting embedded in every orifice in his head last month, when his infatuation with a certain Commander came to a head. Not that it discouraged him for any length of time, of course.

"Nuh-uh, not his choice Doc! Spectres don't answer to anyone and being the highest ranking intergalactic individual on this ship, his status automatically over-rides Captain Anderson. Spectres can do whatever they want. Kill anyone who gets in their way."

Grinning, he fired off a few rounds of his finger guns, earning a bark of laughter from the weary Doctor.

"You watch too many spy vids, Jenkins."

The marine folded his arms, pretending to be affronted. Melodramatically turning to his right, he caught the eye of his favourite Officer.

"Hey! Hey, Commander! What d'you think? We won't be staying on Eden Prime too long, will we? I'm itching for some real, balls to the walls action!"

Shepard stood silently evaluating the man. Seeing the exasperated Doctor at his side, she rescinded, allowing herself to be drawn into the conversation. Chakwas opened her mouth to reprimand the soldier, like a mother scolding her child.

"I sincerely hope you're kidding Corporal. Your 'real action' usually ends up with me patching up crew members in the infirmary. And that goes for you too, Commander." She shot a warning look at Shepard, who couldn't help but wither slightly under the older woman's gaze. Hoping to get herself back in the Doctor's good books, Shepard turned to the young man, imitating her stare.

"Doc's right Corporal. A good soldier keeps a calm head. Gotta be cool under fire. Are _you_ cool, Jenkins?"

"As a cucumber, Ma'am. You know me, always primed and ready."

Shepard quirked a brow as her eyes burned into Jenkins.

"Yeah. I do know you. I also know that last week you would be 90% burns and down two legs if Lieutenant Alenko hadn't reeled you in off that exploding freighter on time, leaving you with a broken rib and bruised ego."

"Don't forget the fractured tibia, Commander." Chakwas added, looking between the two. Jenkins looked momentarily bashful, finding a renewed interest in the laces of his boots.

"Sorry Ma'ams." He looked back up, excitement in his eyes. "But this waiting is killing me! I've never been on a mission like this before! Not one with a real Spectre on board! And I thought I lucked out being assigned along Blitz Barbie the Batarian Bu- _sorry_." His head snapped back down at the dangerous glare from his superior officer. Shepard took a breath, calming herself, before placing a gentle hand on the man's soldier.

"It's alright, Corporal. But just relax. You're wound tight, I can see that. We just don't want you doing something you're going to regret is all." At her words, Jenkins looked up, delighted at her response. Nodding vigorously, he quickly resumed his excited puppy routine.

"Don't worry, Ma'am! You can count on me, I'm not gonna screw this up!"

With a quick nod, Shepard excused herself, making her way to the comm. room at a hurried pace. Entering, she was surprised to see only the single silhouette of a Turian against the large glowing screen.

"Excuse me sir, but where's the Captain, he said he'd meet me here."

The maroon Spectre turned around to greet Shepard, his mandibles fluttering slightly in what appeared to be a welcoming grin.

"Ah! Commander Shepard, the Captain is on his way, but I was hoping you'd get here first. It will give us a chance to talk." Beckoning Shepard closer, the Turian turned back to the screen, apparently enthralled in the picture of Eden Prime taking up the majority of the back wall.

Standing side by side, The Commander couldn't help but feel slightly intimidated by the imposing Spectre. She was by no means short in stature, but Nihlus was easily over six feet in height and threateningly broad shouldered to match. Her eyes flicked momentarily down to his dainty waist, a trait shared throughout his species. She couldn't help as her mind automatically played back the defence vids from basic that had spent a conspicuously long time on Turians in particular, pinpointing each and every one of every council faring species weak spots and how best to exploit them. Idly, Shepard conjured up several plans of attack that would pacify the Spectre in three swift moves and incapacitate him in four. She was snapped out of her musings as Nihlus spoke, his thrum reverberating around the empty room.

"I'm interested in this world we're going to – _Eden Prime_. I've heard it's quite beautiful."

"_Beyond, _Sir. They say it's paradise. Better than Earth, even. But I wouldn't know. Never been personally."

The Spectre tilted his head, conceding the point.

"But you know of it? Serene, tranquil, safe. It's become something of a symbol for your people, hasn't it? Proof that humanity can not only establish colonies across the Galaxy but also protect them. How safe is it though? Really?"

Shepard frowned at his remark.

"Do you know something, Sir? Because, if you've got something to say, I would appreciate it if you came out and said it."

Nihlus gave a throaty chuckle at the response, glancing over at Shepard almost endearingly, only compounding the Commander's confusion.

"You're people are still new comers, Shepard. The Galaxy can be a very dangerous place. Or need I remind of you Mindoir? Is the Alliance truly ready for this?"

Before she could formulate a response, the door behind them swished open. Making his way into the room, Anderson addressed the Spectre.

"I think it's time we told the Commander what's really going on."

Shepard's frown deepened. They were being obtuse with her. _She hated when people were obtuse._ Nihlus gave a curt nod in agreement.

"This mission is more than a simple shakedown run."

"The crew and I guessed as much." _A monkey with a pencil in his teeth would've guessed as much._ "What is it you aren't telling us?"

"We're making a covert pick up on Eden Prime. That's why we needed our stealth systems fully operational."

_Getting information is like trying to pull teeth. _ Shepard's frown solidified on her face as she willed the growl out of her throat. _You're a professional, damn it._

"I don't like being kept in the dark, Captain, you know that. So I'm going to go out on a limb and trust that you've got a damn good reason for not telling me about this sooner, Sir."

"I know, Shepard. I know. But this comes down from the top, a strictly need to know basis. A research team on Prime unearthed some kind of beacon during an excavation. It was Prothean. You've got a passing interest in the area if I'm not mistaken, so you know how vital this is?"

"Yeah, I know. Pretty much every piece of tech we use has some basis in Prothean designs. Finding a beacon? Sounds like we hit the mother lode."

Anderson nodded, giving a small snort in agreement.

"You can say that again. The last time humanity made a discovery like this, it jumped our technology forward two hundred years and got us a place in intergalactic politics in a further fifty. But Prime doesn't have the facilities to handle something like this. We need to bring it back to the Citadel for further study."

"As you can tell Commander, this goes far beyond mere human interest. This discovery most likely can and will affect every single species in Council space."

Shepard nodded, considering their words carefully.

"Definitely. Plus, it never hurts to have a few extra hands on board. But you sound worried Sir. Are we expecting trouble?"

Nihlus gave an amused growl. "I'm _always_ expecting trouble."

"There's more, Shepard. Nihlus isn't just here for the beacon. He's also here to evaluate you."

"Me?" Shepard startled slightly, before tilting her head understandingly. "I guess that explains why I bump into him every time I turn around. But why me, Captain? What's going on?"

"The Alliance has been pushing for this for a long time. Humanity wants a larger role in shaping interstellar policy. We're a growing species and a useful ally. We want more say within the Council. The Spectres represent their power and authority. Accepting a human into their ranks would be one of the highest honours attainable, just short of winning an actual seat. To accept a human into their fold would show just how far the Alliance has come."

Nihlus gave a murmur of agreement, approaching Shepard as he regarded her with sharp eyes.

"You held off the enemy assault during the Blitz single handed, showing incredible courage and skill. You survived against all odds on Akuze, winning a one on one match with a Thresher Maw despite having no idea what exactly you were facing, something that has never been matched in any Council species' history. And I'm well aware of the sacrifices made on Torfan _and_ I can appreciate them. Not all species, humanity included, could see the value of your decision in face of the losses. It was a difficult decision, but the right one. One that few people would have the plates to make. That's why I nominated you for candidacy."

Though his words were meant as a compliment, Shepard couldn't help but squirm slightly under his gaze. All of those things did happen and from a certain perspective, Nihlus was right, but it didn't change the uneasy feeling in the pit of Shepard's stomach, as if she was getting praised for lies and half truths. The fire she had felt before had receded under his words and the Commander mentally cursed herself for sounding so quiet and meek when she next spoke.

"You put my name forward? Why would a Turian want a human Spectre?"

"Not all Turians resent humanity, just as you do not express distaste at mine. Some of us see the potential of your species. We see what you have to offer the Galaxy and the Spectres. We are an elite group. It's hard to find an individual with the required skill set. I, among others, believe you possess such skills. I don't care that you're human, Shepard. Only that you can do the job."

Shepard glanced at Anderson, as if asking permission.

"I suppose this is good for the Alliance."

The Captain nodded.

"Earth needs this Shepard. We're counting on you."

"Alright. Yeah. Just tell me what I have to do."

Apparently satisfied with his visual appraisal, Nihlus stepped back.

"I'll need to see your skills for myself, Commander. Eden Prime will be the first of several missions together."

"You'll be in charge of the ground team tasked with securing the beacon and getting it back to the ship ASAP. Nihlus will be shadowing you, observing the mission." He glanced at his chrono. "We should be getting close to Eden Pr-"

A crackle fizzled through the speakers overhead.

"Captain, we've got a problem. There's a transmission from Eden Prime. You better see this."

The trio stood in front of the large screen as it was filled by what looked like a low rent action vid. Mud was flying everywhere as a white figured approached with haste.

"_Get down!"_

The camera fell, pointing up at the panicked faces of several marines. Sounds of chaos and gun fire glitched sporadically as the image occasionally jumped.

"_-Under Atta-... –eavy casualties!" _

The camera shook slightly, now pointing directly at the sky, just in team to see a vast, tentacled ship to pass by. Seconds later, an almighty horn reverberated around the room, causing Shepard's inside to clench at the horrific note. A red flash flooded the screen before the scene froze and a thick silence fell, punctuated only by the crackle above.

"Everything cuts out after that. No comm. traffic at all. Just goes dead. There's nothing."

Anderson's eyes narrowed as he took a step closer to the projection, using the holograms to reverse the feed, pausing on the image of the imposing ship. The Commander glared at it, as if attempting to burn a hole into the thing, as her unease multiplied. Shepard didn't consider herself a superstitious woman by any stretch of the imagination, but even she couldn't deny the whisper of dread in her mind, telling herself to get familiar to such a sight.

"Joker, status report."

"Seventeen minutes out Captain. No other Alliance ships in the area."

"Takes us in Joker. Fast and quiet." The Captain exhaled softly. "This mission just got a lot more complicated."

Nihlus stood at his shoulder, offering tactical advice.

"A small strike team could move quickly, without drawing attention. It's our best chance to secure the beacon."

Anderson nodded, turning to the Spectre.

"Grab your gear and meet us in the cargo hold. Shepard; tell Alenko and Jenkins to suit up. You're going in."

Nodding, Shepard spun on her heel and made for the door, grimacing.

_An hour ago, I was in a club, having a little drink. Now I'm standing on the brink of the biggest invasion since First Contact and in line to be the Galaxy's newest cowboy cop._ She gave a wistful sigh.

_Nothing's ever simple with me, is it?_


	2. You Gotta Be Ready

**AN – **Sorry for the delay. Seems the universe didn't want this chapter written. Every time I sat down to write, something else demanded my attention. In response to queries, I hope to get a chapter up every 2/3 days for the next while.  
- Long exposition chapter is long and expositiony. I forgot how much exposition there is in the first hour of ME. Unfortunately that makes this dry reading. I tried to mix it up where possible but I feel bad cleaving big chunks of the game's story out, even if y'all already know it inside out. Should be better from here on out though, since I get into better character stuff from the next chapter onwards. *cue D:Ream soundtrack*

.

* * *

.

**2183 CE -** _Exodus Cluster / Utopia System / Eden Prime  
__**Drop Point 2**_

* * *

"Your team's the muscle in this operation, Commander. Go in heavy and head straight for the dig site."

Kaidan's brow furrowed as he digested the order.

"But, Captain, what if we come across any survivors?"

Anderson looked at him, his glare, while considerate, remained steadfast and firm.

"Helping survivors is a secondary objective. That Beacon is your top priority."

"_Approaching Drop Point One, Captain."_

Jenkins, currently fidgeting restlessly with his assault rifle, glanced over at Nihlus, who was in the last stages of his equipment check. Like an eager child, Jenkins turned back to Anderson, struggling to physically refrain from raising his hand in the air to ask a question.

"S-Sir? Is the Spectre coming with us?" His tone dripped with an enthusiastic giddiness. As the cargo bay door opened to howling winds, Nihlus had to shout so that his flanged tones could be heard.

"Negative. I move faster on my own." With a backwards nod, Nihlus jumped and the Normandy began ascending once more. Despite only raising her eyebrows ever so slightly, there was a part of the Commander's mind that erupted with childish glee at the sight of the Turian vanishing. _So bad ass_. Her awe was quickly extinguished however when Anderson's words brought her back to the present.

"Nihlus will scout on up ahead. He'll feed you status reports throughout the mission; otherwise I want radio silence."

Jenkins failed to mask his disappointment, as if discovering Santa Claus was more of a concept than reality. At hearing him whine, Shepard's head snapped round, eyes blazing into the man with a reproachful glare.

"We've got his back, Captain. Ready and able."

As soon as Joker announced their arrival at Drop Point Two, the trio hopped off the ship and into a small valley, filled with greenery. Silently, the squad swept the area, quickly coming to a small clearing. A horrified fascination overcame his sense of self preservation and Kaidan jumped back, blurting out as his face contorted at the image in front of him.

"What the hell is _that_ thing!?"

Jenkins stood, giving a small derisive snort.

"You never seen a Gas Bag, Earth boy? Don't worry, they're harmless, look-" he was about to take a step forward when Shepard hissed in his ear.

"_Hold_, dammit! We don't know if the area's secure yet!"

Jenkins merely gave the Commander a condescending grin.

"Ma'am, this is Eden Prime," he opened his arms, motioning to the scenery around him. "It's one of the most boringly secure places in the Galaxy. Nothing ever happens here."

"What about the distress call?"

"Pffft. Wouldn't put it past the farmers to trip a cable and think the Maker stole their electricity. I'm telling you, this is probably the most exciting thing that's happened to them since settling. Can't blame them for getting their gussets in a twist. And this guy," he strolled over to a Gas Bag, reaching out a hand to pet it as his voice took on a sickly sweet tone. "_He's just the cutest_! Why I could just eat you-"

The Gas Bag exploded in a rancid puff of entrails as a barrage of fire swept the area. Without thinking, Shepard began barking orders as she leapt to cover. Synthetic drones swooped down on them, intent on closing the gap on the combatants. One came perilously close over head as Shepard's forearm was encased in blue fire. As the drone risked another dive, the Commander's hand shot up, tearing through the metal underbelly and detonated her fist. As small dustings of machinery rained down on the scene, Shepard popped her head up to see Alenko doing likewise, having taken care of the drone targeting him. Simultaneously, the pair quickly scanned for Jenkins, still lying lifeless on the ground.

Rushing to his side, Kaidan flipped the marine's head over, checking his neck for a pulse, followed by a wave of his Omni. Shepard could only watch as his shoulders slumped and he hung his head. Glancing up to the Commander, Alenko's voice remained quiet.

"Ripped right through his shields. Never stood a chance."

Letting out an angry growl and several expletives, Shepard took her frustrations out on a nearby rock, awkwardly denting her boot in the process. Cursing once more, she pinched the bridge of her nose, taking several deep breaths. _No nose bleeds. Not now_. Regulating her tone into a laboured calm, Shepard opened her eyes again, looking at the Lieutenant.

"We'll see that he receives a proper burial once the mission is complete. For now, keep focused. There's nothing else we can do for him at the moment."

With a quick 'aye aye' in response, the pair set off, their silence only punctuated by a crackle of static in their ear.

"_There's a lot of carnage down here at the dock. I'm going to check it out. Meet you at the dig site."_

Shepard heard a small murmur of discontent from her companion as Kaidan hurried up to her side.

"What were those things?"

"Trouble. Beyond that, no idea. But if they managed to take a marine by surprise and kill him, I don't want to think how bad the unarmed civilians got- _Wait_." She held up her hand at the sound of movement up ahead. Taking cover behind a rocky out cropping, Shepard watched as the white figure from the broadcast came hurtling around the corner pursued by another two drones.

Just as she reached the duo's cover, the figure slipped, a shot grazing her thigh as she splayed herself unceremoniously across the ground. Shepard pounced from cover, shielding the woman as she let rip on the drones, Kaidan offering supporting biotics from cover. Just as quickly as the last two, the drones were swiftly downed.

"Lieutenant, secure the perimeter." Crouching down beside the woman, Shepard quickly lathered the light graze with medigel, cauterising the wound, sealing it from outside infection. "You okay now? What's going on?"

The woman looked up at the Commander, her eyes flickering over the red stripe down her armour before meeting Shepard's gaze, her expression grave.

"Thanks for help, Ma'am. Didn't think I was going to make it. Gunnery Chief Williams of the 212," She accepted the hand extended to her, shakily getting to her feet. "I should be fine. Few scrapes and burns. Nothing serious. The others? They weren't so lucky. _Oh man_..." she trailed off, gaze fixed securely on the ground. When she spoke again, her voice was quiet, distant.

"We were patrolling the perimeter when the attack hit. Tried to fire off a distress call but they cut comms. I've been fighting for my life ever since."

"Where's the rest of the squad?"

"Th-They tried to double back to the Beacon but it was like walking into an ambush. I-I don't think any of others..." She sighed. "I'm he only one left."

Shepard put a reassuring hand on the young Chief's shoulder before moving it to tilt her chin gently.

"Hey- _Hey_. Look at me. I understand. This isn't your fault Williams. You couldn't have done anything to save them."

"I- Yes Ma'am. Damn Geth overwhelm-"

"_Geth_!?" Kaidan's head popped up from rooting around in an abandoned storage crate. "Geth haven't been seen outside the Veil in two hundred years. Why would they be here now?"

Williams began walking back the way she came, motioning for the pair to follow.

"Gotta be the Beacon. Dig site's just over that rise. Wouldn't be so bad if we knew why they wanted it, but the Lab Rats have no idea what the Beacon actually contains, Just that contains _something_. No matter how much poking and prodding they did, thing didn't even sparkle. Some of them started going crazy over – _shit_!"

The trio ducked as Geth patrolled the site dangerously close by. _Payback time_. Glaring, Shepard stood to her full height, replacing her rifle with the pistol on her hip as she bathed her body on sapphire flames. Stepping out to move, she felt a tugging at her wrist. Glancing down, she saw Kaidan staring at her worriedly as he hissed.

"_What the hell are you doing_?"

Shepard crouched once more coming eye level with the soldier as she fixed him with a determined gaze and tone that brokered no argument.

"They killed one of my men, they slaughtered an entire company of Alliance soldiers and right now, they're in my way. That's a bad place to be."

Conveying his distaste at her words with a heavy sigh, Kaidan nevertheless let go of her wrist. Frowning, Williams shot the Lieutenant a questioning look to which he only replied with a shake of his head as Shepard moved from cover, marching toward the Geth.

Spotting the advancing human, one unit let out a garbled squeal. Quickly silencing him, Shepard thrust out her arm, sending the Geth flying back, embedding it in a stone pillar. Its associate came rushing from cover, only for the Commander to seize it in her biotic grasp. Clenching her hand into a fist, she watched as its casing bent in on itself, before opening her palm, wrenching the synthetic open. With a final flick of her wrist, she sent it barrelling into its last remain comrade, leaving them in a tangled heap as the last few sparks of electricity fizzled from their systems.

Walking into the centre of the site, Shepard gave a growl at the obvious lack of artefact. Her eyes continued to scan the area as she heard footsteps catching up behind her. The Commander stood, pinching the bridge of her nose as the two marines surveyed the site.

"Damn it! Someone must have moved it."

"Who, our side or the Geth?"

"Hard to say. Maybe we'll know more after checking out the research camp. Hopefully someone got out alive."

Calm once more, Shepard switched back to her rifle.

"Only one way to find out. C'mon, move out."

Making their way up yet another ridge, the trio were once again welcomed by the crackling of static.

"_Changes of plans Shepard, There's a small space port up ahead. I'm going to go investigate. I'll wait for you there."_

The Commander couldn't help the queasy feeling growing in the pit of her stomach. Something wasn't right. _A very few somethings weren't right. _She gave a resigned sigh_. And guess who gets to deal with all that? _ They marched on, eventually coming to the small camp. Behind her, Shepard heard Williams give a small gasp.

"Looks like they hit the camp _hard_."

The Commander swallowed. Everything in the camp smouldered gently, the quiet rustling barely punctuating the deathly still of the area. Brushing his hand against a pylon, Kaidan jumped back.

"Dear god, what is- _they're still alive!?_"

The pylons moved. Glancing up Shepard saw the bodies impaled at the peak begin to flex experimentally. Standing back, the trio couldn't help but watch as the corpses' feet touched the ground and they began disentangling themselves from the contraption. At this angle, Shepard managed a clearer view of the corpses, feeling bile rise in her throat at the sight. These were no longer people but... _abominations_. Their clothes hung from their bodies', tattered and worn, revealing sickly grey flesh underneath, mottled by electric blue veins.

The abominations stumbled slightly as they found their footing. One, raising its head, made eye contact with the Commander. They stood, staring at one another for a moment more, before the creature's face contorted into an unholy snarl as the mob lumbered toward them.

In synchronisation, the team opened fire. Shepard cursed under her breath; these beings, these _husks_, merely absorbed the torso shots, shrugging them off as if they were nothing. Different tactics would be required. Holstering her rifle, Shepard's hand slid to her lower back, clenching for her shotgun. Loaded in one hand, she flared up her Omni in the other, extending the orange blade. Wreathed in blue flames once more, Shepard shot into the horde, cleaving her way through, aiming directly at the heads, turning some into grey mush while simply being contented with smashing an orange fist into others

Unsuited for such close quarter brutality, the remaining husks quickly fell. Shepard stumbled slightly, taking a seat on a nearby rock. Her associates approached, Williams with a humoured grin and Kaidan with a gently scolding frown. Ignoring him, Shepard motioned to the fallen bodies.

"Make sure they stay down."

Williams nodded, pulling out a shotgun of her own before obliterating any remaining craniums. Shepard remained seated, giving yet more attention to her nose as she felt the tell tale signs of an exertion headache threatening to develop. _Jenkins and the Geth and now these_. _When did everything get so complicated?_ She gave a small groan._ Oh god, I think I'm actually starting to miss paper work._ A few feet away, Williams finished off the last of the husks with a satisfied snort.

"That's right. Shop smart, shop S M_ah what the hell!?" _Williams was sent sprawling into the Commander from a force behind. Peeking over the fallen soldier's shoulder, Shepard saw a man in science garb, his eyes darting between the three marines wildly. Kaidan lunged for the man, restraining him as another scientist, a woman, came running from behind a decimated building.

"Oh! Humans! Thank the Maker!"

"Ma'am, are you in charge here? What happened?"

"I- yes. I was the senior researcher on this excavation. W-we hid behind the shed when those... things attacked. They must've come for the Beacon. Luckily, it wasn't here. It was moved to the Space Port earlier this morning. Manuel and I stayed behind to pack up camp when the attack came. The marines held them off long enough for us to hide. Th-They gave their lives to save us." She ended dejected, heaving a sigh. The man, still flailing in Kaidan's arms spoke up, undeterred by his imprisonment.

"No one is safe! The age of humanity is ended. Soon, only ruins and corpses will remain."

Frowning at the man, Shepard tried her best to ignore him as she turned back to the woman.

"What else can you tell me about the attack?"

"It all happened so fast. One second we were gathering our equipment, next thing we knew, Geth were-"

"AGENTS OF THE DESTROYER!" The man struggled his way out of Kaidan's grasp, coming nose to nose with the Commander, his breath blowing roughly against her face. "Harbingers of darkness!_ Heralds of our extinction!"_

Shepard's eyes narrowed, feeling a rising urge to throttle the man. Wordlessly, she gazed back to the woman, willing her to continue.

"We could hear fighting outside. Gunfire. Screams. Then you showed up."

_Would it kill anyone just to give a straight answer for once?_ Shepard spoke again, her laboured tone struggling to contain her mounting frustration.

"Have you seen a Turian in the area?"

"_Yes_! Yes! _I saw him_! The Prophet, leader of the enemy! He was here, before the attack!"

Kaidan spoke up, remaining calm in contrast to the Commander's growing rile.

"That's impossible. Nihlus was with us on the Normandy before. He couldn't have been here?"

Williams snorted.

"Yeah, maybe he's got friends? Maybe-"

Shepard turned to look at the marine still lying in her arms, a questioning look on her face. Williams took a moment to reconsider her answer, eventually settling on a small shake of her head. The woman, watching the tense back and forth unfold, quickly tried to appease the edgy marines.

"I'm sorry; Manuel's been a bit... _unsettled _since we found the Beacon. We haven't seen your Turian. We've been hiding here since the attack."

Shepard conceded, giving a tired nod.

"Okay. Thank you. Before we go, do you have any idea why they were interested in the Beacon?"

"_No_! We have unearthed the heart of evil! Awakened the Beast. _Unleashed darkness!_"

"Manuel!" the woman glanced at Shepard, apologetic. "Sorry, he's always been a bit _unstable_-"

"_I see the future_! The destruction rushing towards us! It is coming Commander. There is no escape! I am not mad. Never unstable. _I am the only sane one left!"_

Not trusting herself to reply directly to the man, Shepard gave the woman a curt nod before stalking off.

"_You cannot silence the truth! My voice must be heard!"_

_._

* * *

As the progressed, Manuel's ramblings became distant, until they were finally drowned out by the thundering echo of a gunshot. Without missing a beat, Shepard broke into a sprint up the hill to the source of the noise. Clearing the crest, Alenko and Williams struggled to stop themselves from barrelling into the Commander as she gawked, her face ashen at the sight in the distance.

Just beyond the space port floated a giant cuttlefish raining hell fire on the people below as it emitted a thundering groan, shaking the trio to their core. Kaidan let out an incredulous guffaw. They could only stand, dumbfounded as it floated away, coming back to their senses with a shuffle of movement below.

More giant spikes descended, releasing another flood of Husks into the flaming rubble. Shepard filed the images away, bringing her mind back to the present. With their weak points established, the abominations were reduced to mere nuisances as the squad weaved their way down onto the port proper.

"Commander, it's Nihlus!"

Shepard and Alenko rushed to the Turians side, turning him over. On seeing glazed eyes looking back up at her, Shepard gave an angry grunt. _More questions, fewer answers. And now there's a dead Spectre on our hands. Fan-fuckin'-tastic._

As they continued to inspect the body, Shepard watched out of the corner of her eye as Williams stalked through the crates, rifle in hand before she heard a small scuffle and haggard protestations from a man.

"Ah, hey, ouch! Calm down! Don't shoot! I'm one of you, I'm human!"

Shepard stood up, glancing over at the commotion as Williams re-emerged, marching the man from his cover.

"Your sneaking nearly got you shot."

"I-sorry, I was hiding from those creatures. I'm Powell. I saw what happened to that Turian, the other one shot him-"

"_Other_ Turian?"

"The one who got here first. He was... I don't know, waiting for your friend, I guess. He called him Saren. I think they knew each other; your friend seemed to relax. He let his guard down an-and Saren straight up _shot_ him right there, in the back! I'm just lucky he didn't see me napping behind those crates."

Shepard sighed as she clenched her hands in frustration enough to make the casing creak. Her two associates became incensed at his words

"You survived-"

"-because you were _lazy_!?"

"Enough. I don't have- _ugh_." Shepard shook her head, clearing her thoughts. Looking back up at the man, she placed her hands on her hips and sighed heavily.

"Look, we were told a Prothean Beacon was brought to this space port. Do you know anything about it?"

"I-It's over on the other platform. Probably where that Saren was headed. Hopped right on the cargo train as soon as he killed your friend." He shook his head, downcast. "I _knew_ that beacon was trouble. Everything's gone to hell since we found it. First that damned mother ship shows up. Then the robots attack. Oh god."

Placing her hand on the man's shoulder, Shepard gave him a small nod and made her way to the tram way. Anger had melted into tiredness, The Commander now just wanting this mission _done_; even securing the Beacon would do little to salvage the situation; now it was just a case of damage control.

As their boots clacked against the metal railway, echoing in the empty station, Shepard couldn't help but feel a gnawing disquiet in her gut. She was the rodent in this game of cat and mouse, she was on the back foot here and it was merely a matter of time before this Saren made his move. Moving onto the train, Shepard flicked the controls, bringing the contraption to life. Moving forward, slowly gathering speed, Shepard surveyed her surroundings, quietly thankful for the small respite.

Clearing the shadow of an overpass, the Commander felt the cart behind her buckle as a large clang reverberated from behind them. Spinning round, they were confronted with Geth. Without thought, she ran forward, jamming the muzzle of her rifle into the underside of its eye light. Pulling the trigger, it recoiled slightly under fire as she thrust her foot into the chest of the synthetic to its left, launching him from the train. Using her momentum, she swung her foot down, sweeping it under the middle unit's legs, taking its feet from under it. Extending a blue wreathed hand, she propelled it, sending it flying after its compatriot.

Turning back to her squad, she saw Williams and Alenko engaged in combat with several other Geth that had floated to the platform.

_I- wait, they've got jetpacks!? That-That's cheating!?_

With an indignant huff, Shepard sprinted into the heart of the fight, throwing herself at the largest unit, easily a foot taller than its counterparts and dwarfed Shepard herself, its chest squarely at her eye level. It did little to deter the Commander however as she swapped out her shotgun mid leap, repelling it back, alternating with biotic blasts with pumps of the shotgun. It stumbled for a few steps before finding its footing. The unit stood its ground against the determined Human, catching the muzzle of her shotgun in its grasp and twisting it into a lump of ruined metal. Her momentum continuing, Shepard found herself connecting with the thing's chest, a deep thunk sounding as her skull rattled off its carapace.

Dazed slightly, Shepard barely managed to duck as the Geth raised its rifle, shooting at the space her head had been seconds before. Discarding her shotgun, Shepard resorted to thrusting with her shoulder, trying to up end the unit. Instead, it grabbed her around the waist, hoisting her several feet in the air as if she weighed nothing. Hammering her fists against the Geth's arms quickly became futile. She wasn't even sure she was angering it. The sounds of the fighting behind her began to fade into background noise as the Geth tightened its grip around her torso. Shepard could feel the pressure against her ribs as her armour bent and groaned under the force of the unit_. At least I've got the high ground._ Shepard groaned. _You're about to be crushed to a pulp and the best you can come up with is 'high ground'? Wait-_

What should have been a triumphant bark of laughter came out as a laboured groan as the Commander formulated a new plan. While her upper body was incapacitated, she still had legs which meant she could still kick. But a panicked lashing out wouldn't cut it. Instead, she stretched her legs up, perpendicular with the Geth's arms. She let them fall, gathering speed as she swung the round and embedded them in the unit's chest, cracking its exoskeleton in the process.

She landed, straddling the Geth and immediately grabbing an arm as it swung for her. Keeping its hand just out of reach, she wrenched the limb, pulling and tugging, using her biotics to help tear the metal. Pulling out her pistol, she began unloading the heat sink into its shoulder, causing the joint to violently spark. Its other hand began to grab for her as she side stepped away from the chest, planting her foot on the wrecked shoulder before giving one final tug. Flying backwards, Shepard grinned as the limb remained firmly in her hand.

She made a mental note of her surroundings. While the sounds of battle remained behind her, the frantic pace had died down slightly, occasional war cries telling her Alenko and Williams were gaining the upper hand. She glanced at her new limb. _Heh, 'hand'_. The Geth unit in front of her shakily got to its feet but Shepard had no intention of giving it time to recuperate. She swung at it with her new weapon, sending sparks cascading down its body. Absently, she noted how the sparks appeared to affect it more than any of her previous attacks had.

Keeping up her assault, she slowly drove the Geth to the edge of the platform, making it trip and fall back in the process. Looming over it, Shepard glanced to her side. They were reaching the second station, another overpass approaching them with haste. Looking back down, Shepard thrust the disembodied arm into the Geth's opened chest cavity, making it spark and stutter, crippling any sense of self control. With one final, biotically charged kick, she sent the unit careening off the platform, only for it to shatter against the concrete support of the overpass, exploding in a hail of wires and electricity.

Taking a moment to collect herself, Shepard turned to face her squad. Apart from a few scrapes and scuffs to their armour, they appeared untouched. She was more concerned with the expressions they wore. Standing several feet away, the pair stood gawking dumbly at her, slack jawed, a mixture of amusement and awe on their faces. She stared back for a few moments, wiping the trickle of blood away from her mouth with the pad of her thumb.

"_What_?"

.

* * *

.

Shepard marched off the platform and up the ramp with a renewed vigour. She prided herself on being a woman of action and a productive one to boot. While the several psychologists she had talked with during her career would comment that it would be healthier, both mentally and physically, to talk through her emotions, Shepard felt there was certainly something to be said for punching one's problems away. _And what better way than a platoon of unfortunate Geth?_ _Therapy AND making the universe a safer place. Damn that felt good. _

Her good humour was short lived however, as they passed the small bridge, homing in on the Beacon. Clearing yet another batch of crates, the trio stopped, puzzled by the sight in the distance.

"Ma'am," Ashley began hesitantly. "Is that Geth... _hiding_?"

Hearing the speech, the Geth's head piece shot up, it's light narrowing at the sight of the three marines. Abandoning whatever it had been fiddling with, the Geth stumbled back, emitting a low garbled frequency. In response, several other units burst from cover, trying to locate the Humans. On instinct, Shepard dived behind the crate to her left. Collecting herself, her eyes fell on what looked like a small reactor coil embedded among a nest of wires. Her Omnitool buzzed violently, the Geiger Counter contained within vibrating vigorously. On the thing's small screen, a timer was counting down three minutes.

_Seriously!?_ Ignoring the logic behind Geth implementing displays on their bombs, Shepard called out to her team.

"Scan for explosives, but be careful, if the others are like what I've got here, we're dealing with nukes."

Bringing her Omnitool up to the bomb, Shepard let it do its work disarming the contraption. Raising her pistol, she shot off in the synthetics' general direction, keeping them at bay. Seconds ticked by, stretching into minutes. Eventually, the Omnitool beeped, signalling completion. _That'll have to be good enough for now._

Quickly sweeping down the walk way, Shepard regrouped with Williams as she finished with her own package. Satisfied, she activated the bud in her ear.

"Alenko, report."

"Wha- I- Yeah, yeah. Bomb taken care of," Shepard frowned at his response. He sounded distracted, as if disarming a weapon that could raze everything within a ten mile radius was nought but a small nuisance. Activating the bud again, Shepard responded, agitated.

"_Lieutenant_, give me your location."

"I'm in the docking bay. I found the Beacon; it looks... it- you need to come see this, Commander."

Shepard grunted, her angry tone having no effect on the dazed marine. With a shake of her head to Ashley, she motioned to follow.

The Beacon wasn't difficult to spot. It sat, quietly humming in the centre of the bay, radiating a soft green aura, the now defunct bomb at its base. Kaidan was standing with his back to the women, although the slump in his shoulders was clear to see as he gazed up at the structure, awe-struck. Coming to stand beside him, Shepard's eyes swept the length of the beacon before she gave a small snort. _This better be fuckin' worth it._ With another dismissive shake of her head, she turned, bringing her hand to her ear.

"Normandy; The Beacon is secure. Requesting immediate evac. Also, we have an indeterminate amount of radioactive materials that need disposal as soon as..."

Kaidan barely paid attention as Ashley came to stand by his side, looking equally bemused at the construction. Not taking his eyes off the Beacon, Kaidan tilted his head to Williams, addressing her.

"This is amazing. Actual working Prothean technology, unbelievable!"

Ashley gave a small, uneasy huff.

"I don't know, it wasn't doing all that glowy stuff when they dug up. We don't even know if it's safe."

Kaidan give a small shrug as he began drifting towards the Beacon.

"Eh. Someone must've... activated..." He extended a hand, his fingers brushing against the metal. It was as if a vice had been clamped around his body. The fog in his mind cleared and Kaidan made a desperate attempt to back away. It did little and despite his best efforts, he found himself sliding closer and closer to the contraption.

"...Roger Normandy- _shit_!" Letting her eyes idly wander, Shepard barely registered as Kaidan began slipping into the Beacon's clutches. Brushing passed a confused Williams, the Commander leapt at her fellow marine, sending him flying out of reach. Instead, the Beacon latched on to Shepard, yanking her violently into the air.

She felt as her limbs were wrenched and twisted in place, burning with ferocity as her screams became stuck in her throat. No longer was she aware of the space port or her companions, but only death and fire and more of the Cuttlefish monsters. It hurt. What 'it' was exactly, she wasn't sure. Pain became her only constant as screams filled her ears, heralded by the thrum of deathly war horns, the stench of rotting and burning corpses seeped into her lungs and the last throes of life of an alien word pierced her vision. It was painful. So very painful. Distantly she was aware of bile rising in her throat and a warm trickle of something down her nose, filling her mouth with the sharp tang of iron. She couldn't move. Couldn't blink. It was too much.

And then it was over.

Williams jumped, dragging Alenko behind cover as the Beacon exploded in front of them. After a few seconds' panicked breathing, they tentatively peeked from behind the crates. Shepard lay, unmoving as debris snowed over the scene. Rushing to her side, Ashley checked her vitals as Kaidan relayed to the Normandy. Williams grimaced at the sight in front of her.

Tiny shards of beacon had implanted themselves in the Commander's pallid face and body as a steady stream of blood trickled down her nose. Her heart was firing at an inhuman rate as bruised eyelids fluttered rapidly. Taking care in lifting them up, Ashley watched Shepard's glazed expression as her eyes flicked from left to right, as if reading quickly scrolling text. Regardless of her mental state, the Commander seemed physically fine, barring the small scratches and shrapnel.

Coming over to the women, Kaidan dragged his eyes over Shepard's limp form, performing his own assessment. He flicked his eyes over to Williams, looking for her permission. When given, he snaked his arms under the Commander and lifted, cradling her to his chest. With a heavy sigh, Alenko leant against a nearby crate; his head lolling back to gaze up at the sky.

_One sacked colony, dead marine, decimated Company, murdered Spectre, incapacitated Commander and no Beacon_. He closed his eyes, scrunching his face in a painful grimace.

_Well, shit._

_._

* * *

_._

_Oh God. I'm gonna be sick._

She bolted up, ready to part with her stomach contents. However, instead of retching, Shepard only managed to give a faint gasp of disgust as the room span around her. _I don't remember drinking this much in... ever_. Clenching her hands to her head as if to keep it in place, the Commander's palms were immediately coated in a cold, sticky sweat. Taking a deep breath, she winced.

_Too loud. Breathing is far too loud. And bright. Dear God it's like sitting in the heart of the sun._

Pressing the heels of her hands into her eye sockets to blot out the light, Shepard made note of a gentle shuffling approach her. While her head throbbed at the speech, Shepard was thankful to hear the soft, clipped tones of Doctor Chakwas.

"How are we feeling, Commander?"

"I'm either dying or I'm already dead; this is the tenth circle of hell and I sinned something awful somewhere in my life. It's like I've gone ten rounds with Krogan."

"Well, and I mean this in the most polite way Commander, you do look as rough as badger's arse."

Shepard gave a small grunt of laughter.

"I want you to give it tom straight, tell it like it is Doc, don't sugar coat it now. _Ugh_." She gave a small shake of her head and instantly regretted the move. "How long have I been out?"

"About fifteen hours, give or take," _Shit, fifteen?_ "Something happened with the Beacon, I think, going by the bits of ancient technology buried in your face."

Shepard heard a male voice speak up from behind her, wracked with guilt.

"It's my fault. I must've triggered some kind of security field when I approached it. You had to push me out of the way."

Shepard gave a snort. "Smooth move, Big Guy." Glancing up and seeing his crestfallen face, the Commander's expression softened. "Relax. You had no way of knowing what would happen." At the words, Kaidan gave a small smile, relieved. Chakwas spoke up again.

"Actually, we don't even know if that's what set it off. Unfortunately, we'll never get the chance to find out."

As if sensing her question, Kaidan answered.

"The Beacon exploded. We think it could've been some kind of system overload. The blast knocked you out cold. Williams and I had to carry you back o the ship."

"You're lucky, Commander. Apart from a few superficial scrapes and bruises, you're otherwise fine in body. However, I did detect unusual brain activity. You showed abnormal beta waves in addition to increased rapid eye movement, as if you were dreaming."

"Hmm." Shepard gave a worried grimace. "I-I saw, I'm not sure _what_ I saw. Death, destruction. Nothing's really clear."

"I see. I'll add that to my report. It may- Oh, Captain Anderson."

The Captain walked in, giving a curt nod to each individual before planting his eyes on Shepard.

"How's our XO holding up?"

"All readings look normal. I'd say the Commander's going to be right as rain after a nap."

"Good to hear. Shepard; I need to speak with you, in private."

Kaidan gave a quick salute and left. Chakwas lingered a little longer to give Anderson one of her patented warning glares before turning to Shepard with a reassuring smile before departing. As the door swished shut, Anderson let out a sigh.

"Sounds like that Beacon hit you pretty hard, Commander. You sure you're okay?"

Shepard gave a small shrug, her eyes downcast. "I don't like soldiers dying under my command." She gave a small laugh that contained no mirth. "You'd think I'd be used to it by now."

"Jenkins wasn't your fault. You did a good job, Shepard."

The Commander made a small sound, unconvinced. "Did we leave Gunnery Chief Williams back on Prime?"

"I figured we could use a soldier like her. She's been reassigned to the Normandy."

Shepard nodded. "Williams is a good soldier. Held her own. She deserves it." Shepard wiped at her face tiredly. "Sir, permission to speak freely?"

Anderson nodded, granting it.

"Intel dropped the ball. We had no idea what we were walking into down there. That's why things went to hell."

"Shepard, Geth haven't been seen outside the veil in two centuries. Nobody could have predicted this."

"Doesn't change the fact we have over fifty dead men, sir, A Spectre among them. I don't even know how many civilians were caught up in the fighting. And then Saren and the visions-"

"Wait, back up a second Shepard. Perhaps you should start from the beginning."

Shepard gave a groan of laughter as she sat straight, clasping her hands in front of her.

_Hoo Boy. S'gonna be a long night._


	3. A Human, Turian & Krogan Walk Into A Bar

**AN  
-**Sorry for the length again. I got kind of impatient and just want Liara on the ship. I enjoyed writing this chapter immensely, though, so hopefully you'lll enjoy reading it.  
- Also, feel free to be as mean as you want in the reviews. Nice words are lovely, as always of course. I'll be honest. I just like the attention.

Onward!

.

* * *

.

**2183 CE** - _Serpent Nebula/Widow Cluster/Citadel/Central Tower  
__**Council Chambers**_

Ashley stood awkwardly, eyes darting around the expansive Chamber architecture, intently trying to focus on anything other than the echoed yelling taking place just up the flight of steps. Glancing over Kaidan's shoulder to read the article currently scrolling over his Omnitool, she spoke up.

"What you reading?"

Kaidan turned his head, giving a small smile.

"Oh, nothin' much, just something the Commander's not going to be very happy about," He cleared his throat and affected his best news reader voice "Ariake Technologies, a subsidiary of Aldrin Labs, have announced a full recall on their _Omniblade Pro_ attachment following a glitch in recent update patch #3.12, which results in a 30% chance of turning the entire Omnitool into a razor sharp blade, severing the user's entire arm in an instant." He gave small frown.

"Then some legal mumbo jumbo... But yeah, Shepard's not going to be happy, she loves her blade. I think she called hers 'Meredith' or 'Marian' or something." He shook his head, giving a small chuckle. Ashley offered a weak smile of her own as her eyes returned to flitting over the Chambers, settling momentarily on a Turian nervously approaching. A particularly loud bark jolted her mind back to the present, prompting her to speak up again.

"Is she always like this?"

"Like what?" Kaidan looked at her, perplexed.

"You know, all punchy and shouting." She met the marine's eyes with a worried expression, as understanding dawned over his features.

"Oh, no. Well, yeah. It's not as bad as it sounds, trust me. I think she just likes the sound of her own voice."

"Are you sure? 'Cause she acted like she had a stick up her ass all the way through Eden Prime." She looked down at her feet, slightly bashful. "I've read all about her. What she's done. What she sacrificed. I don't think I could operate under an officer who's so," _Angry? Callous? Murderous?_ "..._Intense_." Her gaze shot up, confused at the snort Kaidan gave.

"Nah, Prime was bad, we went in practically blind, had the rug pulled from under us and everything immediately went to shit. Commander's a bit of a control freak is all. She just hates being caught with her pants down-"

"_YOU CAN'T HIDE BEHIND THE COUNCIL FOREVER, YOU ARROGANT BASTARD!"_

Kaidan gave a bemused sigh. _You're not helping me here, Ma'am_. He turned back to Ashley, his tone gentle and calming.

"I promise you, this is cathartic for her. In a couple of minutes, she'll come breezing down those steps ready to kick some ass. And don't worry; she only screams at people who deserve it. You'd need to seriously screw up to earn that." He pointed at the scene just out of sight, up the stairs, which had apparently devolved into a yelling match between the Commander and the Turian Councillor. Ashley nodded, taking a deep breath, her worries only slightly belayed. Before they had time to grow, however, her attention was drawn to the shy Turian still edging towards the pair. She tensed slightly, earning another confused look from Kaidan. The Turian glanced behind them as Shepard let out a frustrated growl. He pointed a finger tentatively toward the source of the noise and Ashley could have sworn she heard nervousness in his flanged tones.

"I-Is that the Human going after Saren Arterius up there?"

Ashley fought to contain a derisive snort. _What a stupid question. _Kaidan however, appeared unfazed, a kind smile playing out across his lips as he nodded.

"Sure is. Can we help you Sir?"

"Officer Vakarian, C-Sec," he extended a claw which Kaidan accepted. Ashley remained stoic beside him. "I was just wondering, what evidence has she got against him?"

Ashley bristled, suspicious as Kaidan gave an apologetic look, shaking his head.

"I'm afraid we're not at liberty to say, you'd have to ask Shepard or Captain Anderson yourself."

The Turian nodded, mulling over the words. "Would you mind if I hung around a bit and waited here?"

"Of course not, be our guest." Kaidan returned his attention to his Omnitool and three lapsed into silence. Eventually, the distant shouting died down and Ashley heard the quiet thud of armoured boots bounding down the steps. She turned around and just like Alenko had said, there was Shepard, breezing down the stairs. While not out and out jubilant, there was definitely an air of positive energy around the Commander, instantly making Williams feel at ease.

"So, did they eventually listen to you, Ma'am?"

"Nope." Shepard's tone was oddly chirpy. Ashley frowned.

"So what happens now?"

"Well, they want proof. I told them they couldn't handle the proof. But they insisted, so now we're going to go and find proof." The Commander came to a stop in front of her companions, letting out a satisfied sigh as she stood, hands firmly planted on her hips. Ashley's confusion merely grew.

"But, Ma'am, you're not mad he got let off?"

"_Yeah_, I suppose," Shepard mused "But I can handle it. I know I'm right and it's just a matter of time before I can rub Sparatus' filthy mandibles in_- No offence_, _Sir_." She apologised, only just having noticed the Turian standing with them, offering a shaky smile. The Turian fluttered his mandibles slightly, nodding as he once again extended a claw.

"None taken, but I'd like to talk to you. I'm Garrus Vakarian, the C-Sec Officer in charge of the investigation into Saren."

Shepard quirked her eyebrows in surprise as she started walking back towards the elevator, her squad in tow as Garrus gave a quick rundown of his dealings so far.

"Sounds like you really want to bring him down."

Garrus shook his head as he began gesticulating wildly with his claws.

"I don't the trust the man. Just... something about him rubs me the wrong way. But he's a _Spectre_," he said, venom dripping from his tone as he finally got that chance to vent his frustrations. "Everything he touches is classified. I can't get access to any hard evidence-" his Omnitool began buzzing furiously. He gave a small growl.

"Duty calls, huh?" Shepard said, sympathising with Garrus' exasperated expression. "Look, we're on the same team here, right? Just keep doing what you're doing and if you come across anything interesting, drop me a line. We'll go off and do some poking around of our own and see if anything turns up. If it does, you'll be first to know, alright?"

Garrus looked at her with sharp blue eyes, relief etched on every inch of his face plates. He nodded, almost excited.

"Will do. It's just a relief to find someone who doesn't think I'm crazy for going after him. I'll answer this. Hopefully we'll have something more concrete soon."

With a polite nod, he left, vanishing down an elevator. Shepard stood with a confident smirk as she called for another and turned back to her squad. Sidling around to his side, Shepard peeked over Kaidan's shoulder to see what held his attention so rapt.

"What you read- _Oh what!?_ _That's bullshit_!"

.

* * *

_Bachjret Ward  
__**Upper Markets**_

"But it's not fair, that's like, my signature move! Y'know_, Flame on_ and then the old _swish swish stab? _What am I going to do now? Just hide behind cover and shoot people? That's boring." The Commander trudged up the Market stairs, a petulant pout on her face as she gave a childish huff. "Why did they even need to put out an automatic update? It didn't need fixed; 'streamlined interface' my ass."

Kaidan and Ashley rolled their eyes. Shepard hadn't stopped grumping all the way down the ten minute elevator ride. There was even a moment Ashley was convinced she had actually died on Prime and she had been doomed to an eternity of sharing an elevator with the Galaxy's crankiest Commander.

Entering a small basin in the markets, Shepard stopped; planting her hands on her hips once more and gave an exasperated sigh, blowing the hair out of her eyes. She turned around to her squad.

"So, what do we do?"

Ashley and Kaidan startled slightly at the return to regular conversation. Ashley gave a small shrug.

"Oh, I, uh, I don't know, Ma'am. I don't really know anyone on the Citadel that could even point us in the right direction."

"A buddy of mine mentioned an Information Broker down in the Financial District but he's crazy expensive so-" Kaidan gave up talking as the angry rumbling of a Krogan nearby escalated in volume, earning a few curios glances from passersby. Peering in between her companions' shoulders, Shepard watched as the Krogan, a mercenary by the looks of it, growled at the Omnitool on his wrist.

"_Look, Wrex, I'm only telling you this because we got history but you need to back off. You come down here and Fist's given us direct orders to take you down on sight."_

"Punk ass Pyjak too afraid to send his men after me now?"

The Krogan on the other end sighed.

"_He's not coming out. End of story."_

"Ratok, this story's just beginning. When I come down there, you better be gone. You know what happens to people who stand in my way."

Not giving the other Krogan a chance to reply, the Mercenary ended the call. Grunting, he pounded his fist of the white marble balcony before turning around, muttering.

"First the Omniblade and now this?" He came to face the trio of marines and grumbled threateningly.

"Out of my way, humans, I have no quarrel with you."

Side stepping, they let the Krogan pass in silence, watching as he moved towards a kiosk. Shepard glanced back at her team, a smug grin on her face as she waved an orange forearm in front of them.

"See, someone agrees with this travesty."

"You share the opinion of an angry old Krogan." Ashley returned the smirk. "_Definitely_ a tick in the win column, Ma'am."

Shepard strolled along to take the Krogan's place at the wall, leaning her arms against it.

"Is that sass I hear, Williams?"

"No. Me? Never, Ma'am." She responded with an exaggerated shake of the head. With an unconvinced grin, Shepard leant forward, looking over to Kaidan, whose eyes were currently transfixed on the scene in front of him.

"You holding up, LT?" Breaking from his trance, Kaidan gazed up, looking at his two companions with a slightly dazed look.

"Oh. Uh, Yeah. Just this place," he motioned to the vast arms of the Citadel and the network of buildings stretching out in front of them. "It's... _big_."

Ashley gave a small bark of laughter.

"That your professional opinion, Sir?"

"There must be millions living here." He continued, blushing slightly and grinning. "It can't be possible to track everyone coming and going." Turning her gaze back to the view, Ashley nodded in agreement.

"Makes Jump Zero look like a porta-john. And that's the largest deep space station the Alliance has."

"Yeah, 'Zero was big but this is a whole 'nother scale! Look at the Ward arms!" He pointed out towards them with the expression of a gleeful child. "How do they keep all that mass from flying apart?"

Shepard gave a faint smile, relaxing against the marble as she spoke, eyes never leaving the scene in front of her.

"The Citadel was left over from the Protheans, maintained round the clock by Keepers; those insect things you see running around. Place is fully customizable too, easy to rearrange, like the whole place is made from Space Lego, making it fully adaptable for each and every species. It's a technological marvel. I don't even think the suits in charge know fully how it works, just that it _does_."

It took a few moments of silence to pull the commander's gaze from the view of the Space Station. Turning her head to the side, she saw her squad staring at her with a dull surprise tinged with bemusement.

"_What_?" She felt her cheeks begin to burn as she let her eyes drift back to the view, voice uncharacteristically quiet and shy. "It's a bit of a... hobby of mine. Plus, goes some way to explaining why the Council's so hesitant to admit new species. Must be one hell of a job keeping an eye on everything."

"Or maybe they just don't like humans."

Shepard quirked an unimpressed eyebrow at the Gunnery Chief but ultimately let the comment slide, instead responding flippantly.

"Pfft. Why not!? We've got oceans, beautiful women, this emotion called _love_. Going by the old vids, we've got everything they want." At the response, Kaidan gave a soft chuckle.

"When you put it that way, there's no reason they wouldn't like you." He continued smiling gently as he gazed out over the scene. It took him a second before his brow furrowed.

"Wait. No-no, I-I meant 'us'. Humans. Ma'am."

Shepard gave a large snort of laughter before clutching the heel of her palm to her nose. Ashley watched the Lieutenant with a smug grin as he gave a heavy sigh, his shoulders drooping.

"You two are never going to let me live that down, are you?"

"Hell no!" Ashley gave him a hearty pat on the back as she turned her head to the Commander for her input.

"What about y- _shit_, are you alright Commander?"

Shepard turned around stiffly, her hand still clamped over her nose as she met her squad's gaze, blood trickling down the inside of her wrist.

"Doe, doe, s'fine'd. I just hab really weak nobe vessels." She sniffed as the blood began to slow. "Start streamin' blood if I sneeze too hard. Handy when trying to create a little diversion as a kid on Earth, but day to day military life? Not so much. They've gotten worse since I woke up from that Beacon. Had three nosebleeds this morning alone." She glanced up at her companions and frowned at Kaidan's guilty gaze.

"Oh, come on, Alenko. If what happened was your fault, I'd blame you. But it wasn't, so I don't. You don't have to pay me back for anything, Kaidan."

"Of course, Commander, sorry." He finished sheepishly. Glancing at the drops of blood that had begun staining the white marble, Kaidan winced as his gaze drifted upwards to the red spilling over the Commander's chin. "Here, I'm pretty sure there's a clinic or something around here to clean you up. C'mon."

_._

* * *

_Upper Wards  
__**Med Clinic**_

By the time they had reached the clinic, Shepard's blood had mostly dried and apart from the tang of iron in her mouth, she felt ready to go. As the door swished open, the squad immediately tensed at the sound of a particularly angry argument. Edging into the room, Shepard hid herself behind a large partition. Glancing across, she saw Garrus, ducking behind a desk, his attention focused on the arguing couple.

"I didn't tell him, I swear!"

"Smart move, Doc. Now if Vakarian comes sniffing around, you _stay_ smart. Keep your mouth shut or we'll-" Shepard had heard enough. Drawing her pistol she slid around the partition, aiming it squarely at the thug. In a panic, he snatched the Doctor into his arms, using her as a shield.

"Who the hell are you!?"

Shepard remained calm, fixing the man with a steely glare. "Let her go."

Before he had time to respond, Garrus leapt from his cover, spraying bullets at the pair, clipping the thug's shoulder with a shot. Recoiling, he released the Doctor. Garrus continued surging forward, placing one more fatal shot in the man. When he fell to the ground and failed to move, Garrus relaxed. Turning around, he looked at Shepard, a raw energy in his eyes as his mandibles flared excitedly.

"Perfect timing, Commander. Gave me a clear shot at the bastard."

Shepard was incensed. "_What the hell were you thinking_!? You could've hit the hostage!" She felt a warm trickle over her mouth. _There goes the nose again. _Garrus at least had the decency to look cowed as he flustered through his excuse.

"I- there wasn't time to think! I just reacted. I didn't mean to- Dr Michel, are you hurt?"

"No, no, I'm fine." The woman said, emerging from cover, brushing herself down. "Thanks to all of you."

Shepard nodded, affecting a sympathetic expression. _Well, as sympathetic as possible with two fingers jammed up my nostrils._

"Doctor, I doe thobe men threatened you, but if you tell us who they work for, we can protect you." The Doctor gently scoffed.

"Protect me? Have you looked in a mirror lately? You get in a bar fight or something?" She guided the Commander over to a bed, examining her face. Shepard managed an embarrassed shrug.

"High blood pressure. Nothing more."

Michel shot the Commander a stern motherly glare. Idly, Shepard wondered if all Doctors majored in mildly disappointed, condescending expressions. _In between learning the art of illegible hand writing and keeping the stethoscope just shy of zero Kelvin, naturally. _Garrus shifted to the side, informing C-Sec of the events in the med clinic_. _Tutting softly, the doctor began to swab at the Commander's chin as she spoke.

"Those men worked for Fist, a man who thinks himself a big shot amongst the underclass just because he owns Chora's Den in the Lower Wards. Fool of a man, really. They wanted to shut me up and keep me from telling Garrus about the Quarian."

Shepard tilted her head slightly, shifting her eyes to Garrus. "Something to do with Saren, then?"

"It's a hunch, but I think so." He nodded, thoughtfully tapping his mouth with a finger. "Dr Michel was going to help."

"Yes, well a few days ago, a Quarian came by my office. Poor, timid thing. She'd been shot but refused to say who did it. She was scared stiff, probably on the run. She asked me about the Shadow Broker. She wanted to trade information for a safe place to hide. Something to do with Geth, I think she said." Michel added in afterthought. Shepard's features perked at the mention.

"Where is she now?"

Michel gave a small grimace. "I'm not sure. I put her in contact with Fist. He's an agent for the Shadow Broker."

Garrus frowned. "Not anymore. I've got evidence he works for Saren. The Shadow Broker isn't too happy about it."

Michel's face flicked up toward Garrus, incredulous. "Fist betrayed the Shadow Broker?" She shook her head, returning her attention to the Commander. "Saren must've made him quite the offer."

Behind the three, Kaidan spoke up. "That Quarian must have something Saren wants. Something worth crossing the Shadow Broker to get." This earned a nod of agreement from Ashley.

"If this Quarian has information that can link Saren to the Geth, there's no way the Council can ignore you."

Shepard nodded, her skin no longer blemished with blood.

"Time we paid Mr Fist a visit." Quickly thanking the Doctor, Shepard began to head for the door when Garrus placed a claw on her shoulder.

"This is your show, Shepard, but I want to -_need_- to bring Saren down as much as you. I'd like to accompany you, if you'll have me."

Shepard flashed him a lopsided grin. "Sure thing. Welcome aboard, Vakarian." With a pleased nod, the quartet exited the clinic, only to be met with the mercenary Krogan leaning nonchalantly against the opposite wall, sporting a grin of his own.

"Heard fighting in there. Fist's men, yeah?"

"Yeah." A thought occurred to the marine. "I'm Commander Shepard and I'm gunning for Fist. I heard your conversation earlier. You might want to tag along."

Wrex stood straight, giving a guttural growl of approval. "_The_ Commander Shepard? Heh, yeah, I've heard a lot about you." He gave a firm nod, before his features turned serious. "We're both warriors, Shepard. Out of respect, I'll give you fair warning; I'm going to kill Fist."

Kaidan stepped forward, entering the conversation.

"He knows you're coming, we'll have a better chance if we team up, work together."

"My people have saying: Seek the enemy of your enemy and you will find a friend."

"So is that a yes I'm hearing?" Shepard asked, a confident smirk pulling at her lips. Wrex returned it.

"Let's go. I'd hate to keep Fist waiting."

.

* * *

_Lower Wards  
__**Chora's Den**_

Filling in Wrex on the details of their mission was interesting for Shepard. While he retained a lust for fighting, the Krogan proved himself far more intelligent than the slab of meat stereotype attributed to his species. Plus he was just as pissed about the omniblade recall as Shepard was, which made him her instant favourite. Turning the corner, Garrus gave an uneasy growl.

"Looks like the place is closed. Chora's Den is never closed."

Wrex only gave a throaty chuckle, ignoring the Turian's discomfort.

"Well then, let's kick start the Grand Reopening."

Running up to the door, Wrex smashed it open with his foot, sending it flying off its hinges. _All the more impressive considering it didn't even have hinges. _Piling in behind the Krogan, the dozen or so thugs were no match for the highly trained, if admittedly rag tag squad, ending with nary a scratch between them. The corridor leading into Fist's office was suspiciously quiet. Turning around to the two marines, Shepard spoke.

"Williams, Alenko, secure the Den; make sure we don't get any more surprises. Garrus, Wrex and I are going after Fist."

Nodding, the team separated. Together, the Human, Turian and Krogan swept through the silent corridors. Passing by the locker room, the trio stilled at the sound of rustling. Glancing up, they raised their rifles as two workers jumped from cover.

"Stop! Don't come any closer!"

Garrus looked at them, mildly amused.

"Warehouse workers? All the real guards must be dead."

"Stay back or we'll shoot! I mean it!"

Shepard approached the gun toting worker menacingly, fixing him with a dangerous if slightly disinterested glare. She spoke, her voice dangerously nonchalant.

"This would be a good time to find somewhere else to work, boys."

They remained staring each other down for a few seconds before the workers folded, a shiver working its way down one of their spines.

"Yeah, yeah, right. Good idea. Never like Fist anyway. He doesn't pay me enough for this."

Shepard remained glaring at them until the door swished shut behind them. Wrex stared at the Commander curiously.

"Would've been quicker just to kill 'em."

"Yeah, I guess." Shepard conceded. "But who's going to run away and spread the tale of the big bad Commander Shepard?" To her right, Garrus gave a small chuckle.

"You got a thing for theatrics, huh?"

"It's all about the reputation Garrus. Having one isn't always a bad thing."

Moving further into the compound Shepard approached Fist's office, hearing a panicked fumbling inside. Opening the door, she managed to biotically render one turret a hunk of useless metal, before sending it careening into its partner while Garrus and Wrex felled Fist with a few shots. On the ground and whimpering, Fist could do little more than pray to the Maker as Shepard loomed over him, her pistol aimed squarely at his head. She spoke, her voice as hard as flint.

"Where's the Quarian?"

"She's not here! I-I don't know where she is! That's the truth!"

Behind them, Wrex gave a disgusted snort.

"He's no use to you now. Let me kill him."

"Wait! Wait! I-I don't know where the Quarian is, b-but I know where you might find her. She isn't here. Said she'd only deal with the Shadow Broker himself."

"Face to face?" Wrex's disgust contorted into confusion. "That's impossible. Even I was hired through an agent."

Finally getting somewhere with the man, Shepard lowered her gun and stepped back, allowing Fist to stand.

"N-no, no, you're right. Nobody meets the Shadow Broker, ever. Even I don't know his true identity. But she didn't know that. I told her I'd set a meeting up, but when she shows, it'll be Saren's men waiting for her."

_And you were doing so well._ Grabbing Fist by his shirt, Shepard slammed him against the wall, breathing harshly against his face.

"Give me a location. _Now_."

"H-Here! On the Wards, there's a back alley by the market. She's supposed to be meeting them right now. You can make it if you hurry."

_Better_. Shepard dropped him roughly, stumbling Fist slightly. Looking him up and down once more, disdain etched in every inch of her face, Shepard turned on her heel and made for the door. Out the corner of her eye, she watched as Wrex unsheathed his shotgun before blasting Fist in the chest. Garrus looked on, appalled.

"Spirits! What the hell did you that for!?"

"Shadow Broker paid me to kill him. I don't leave jobs half done." Wrex replied, as if it was the most obvious question in the world.

"Garrus," Shepard interjected, her tone slightly more diplomatic. "Wrex did warn us he would. And a lot of people were hurt or worse because of him. He had it coming. Now come on, we've got a party to crash."

Sprinting through the maze of offices and back to the Den floor, Shepard was dimly surprised to see several other thugs had came to intercept the squad and were all now lying, in a motionless heap by the entrance. Not daring to stop, Shepard ran past the marines wordlessly and they followed instantly.

Quickly and quietly, the troop made their way to the market's alley just in time to see the young Quarian being rounded on by several Salarians.

"Did you bring it?"

"W-Where's the Shadow Broker? Fist?"

A Salarian strolled towards her, petting her hood mockingly.

"They'll be here. Where's the evidence?"

"No, no way. Deal's off." She began to back away, breaking into a run when the Salarians drew their weapons. Turning around, she ran straight into Garrus, who immediately wrapped her in his arms and jumped for cover. With a victorious bellow Wrex aimed for a nearby gas canister and fired. The explosion sent the Salarians flying. They hit the ground riddled with bullets. Still dealing with the ringing in her ears, Shepard approached the Quarian, who had wrenched herself from Garrus' grasp.

"I-They- He- Fist set me up! I knew I couldn't trust him!" The indignant rage in her otherwise youthful chirpy tone was cute, forcing Shepard to fight the soft grin threatening to spread over her lips.

"Easy, it's alright. Did they hurt you?"

"I-no." The Quarian appeared to calm down. "I know how to look after myself. Not that I don't appreciate the help. Who are you?"

"Well, hopefully, I'll be your new friend. My name's Shepard. I'm looking for evidence to prove Saren Arterius is a traitor."

"I'm Tali. It seems I may have a chance to repay you for saving my life. But not here. We need to go somewhere safe."

Kaidan spoke up behind her.

"We could take her to the Embassy. Udina will want to see this."

With an agreeable nod, Shepard motioned to move out and the unlikely sextuplet made their way to the markets. Increasing his pace to walk alongside Shepard, Wrex gave her a small nudge in the ribs, chuckling lightly.

"Heh, you know, Shepard. I might just have to tag along with you more often."

.

* * *

_Presidium_  
_**Human Embassy**_

Udina was outraged. Shepard couldn't help but feel a little bit amused at having caused this. The man had shown contempt for her in the short exchanges they had together, only coming to her defence when the Council began to mock Humanity. It was perhaps unprofessional, but the Commander felt no guilt over the Ambassador's agitated state. Finally he stopped pacing, having regained the ability to form words.

"You're not making my life easy, Shepard. Fire fights in the Wards? An all out assault on Chora's Den? Do you know how ma- Wait, what are all these aliens doing here?" He motioned frantically at Shepard's new associates. "A Turian, Krogan- what is a _Quarian_ doing in the Human Embassy!?"

Shepard stood straight, hands clasped firmly behind her back. She eyed the man with a hungry, dangerous expression. It was only a matter of time before he tripped that particularly switch. Idly, Shepard wondered if she had unconsciously goaded the Ambassador, luring him into her trap just so she could tear into him. _No matter. It's not like he doesn't deserve it. Pompous ass. _Slowly, she stalked over to him, eventually coming nose to nose with the man, looking down on him slightly from her elevated position. She spoke, her voice dangerously calm.

"These aliens aided me in collecting evidence you would be very interested in. _That Quarian_ can help us bring down Saren. I would have told you that if you hadn't jumped down my throat."

Udina shrank and cowed visibly under the Commander's gaze. Though she didn't show it, Shepard was somewhat disappointed. _I was just getting started. _His face flushed, Udina began to stutter a response.

"I-Yes, I apologise Commander. This whole Saren affair has me a bit on edge. Maybe we should just start from the beginning." He motioned to the Quarian. "Miss...?"

"Tali. Tali'Zorah nar Rayaa. During my travels, I began hearing reports of Geth. Since they drove my people into exile, the Geth have never ventured beyond the Veil. I was curious, so I tracked a patrol of Geth to an uncharted world. I waited for one unit to become isolated from its squad, then I disabled it and removed its memory core."

To the Ambassador's left, Anderson stood, frowning in confusion.

"I thought the memory core fried when a Geth dies? Some kind of defence mechanism?"

Tali nodded as she pawed at the ground with her foot bashfully.

"Normally yes, But I am _very_ good. My people created the Geth. I know how they work. I managed to salvage a small cache of data from its audio banks." She activated her Omnitool, allowing Saren's flanged tones to fill the room.

"_Eden Prime was a major victory. The Beacon has brought us one step closer to finding the conduit."_

Another voice responded, a woman's, smooth and confident.

"_And one step closer to the return of the Reapers."_

Shepard froze. She hadn't heard that voice in years. The owner hadn't liked her then either and was one of the few people in existence that could make Shepard feel self conscious about herself. Ignoring, or simply not seeing the Commander's expression, Udina grumbled.

"I don't recognise that other voice. And Reapers? They're old fairy tales. Load of hog wash."

Shepard wasn't listening as the gears in her mind turned, allowing everything to click into place. Now with a name, her visions became clearer, the images of the Prothean Empire being extinguished by the Cuttlefish monsters becoming all the more the vivid. Lost in her thoughts, Shepard was vaguely aware of Anderson talking.

"No matter what the Council think about the rest of the recording, those audio files _prove_ Saren's a traitor."

It was Wrex who responded this time as he inched towards Tali protectively, speaking for the first time since entering the Embassy.

"What about her? The Quarian?" Kaidan and Garrus bristled giving curt nods of agreement. Tali stepped forward, finally pulling the Commander's attention back to the present.

"I-I'd like to be there when you present to the Council. If nothing else it would be an interesting experience. Few Quarians ever come to the Citadel, let alone get anywhere near the heart of the Council."

Collecting herself, Shepard nodded, unable to banish all traces of the serious frown that had overtaken her features.

"Yeah. Sure, tag along by all means."

She heard Tali give a sigh of relief as she visibly relaxed.

"Thank you. You won't regret this."

Shepard managed a small smile before moving to the door.

"Well, come on then, something tells me time isn't going to be on our side much longer."

.

* * *

_Central Tower  
__**Council Chambers**_

"_Eden Prime was a major victory. The Beacon has brought us one step closer to finding the conduit."_

"_And one step closer to the return of the Reapers."_

Udina stood, arms folded smugly across his chest.

"You wanted proof? There it is."

The Turian Councillor glared, but allowed it grudgingly.

"The evidence is irrefutable, Ambassador. Saren will be stripped of his Spectre status and all efforts will be made to bring him in to answer for his crimes."

The Asari Councillor looked on, worried.

"I recognise that other voice, the one speaking with Saren. Matriarch Benezia."

Shepard glanced up at her, giving a small nod, swallowing. The Councillor took it as a question and explained further.

"She is influential and powerful, even by Matriarch standards. She will be a formidable ally for Saren." The Councillor's brow knit, now talking to herself as much as anyone around her.

"She has a daughter, a scientist, who if I recall, published papers on some form of hypothetical Conduit, similar to what Saren mentioned. It seems too coincidental for both Mother and daughter to share such an obscure interest. Especially when one is involved with a potential threat such as Saren." She sighed. "We don't know for sure if she is involved, however it would be advisable to try and find her, see what she knows, and bring her in for interrogation if you must. I have reports that Dr T'Soni was last seen exploring an archaeological dig on one of the uncharted words in the Artemis Tau cluster. If you are to go after her, exercise caution, she may very well be in league with Saren."

Shepard's face twitched at the mention of the name. _Liara? In league with Saren? No, she couldn't. Wouldn't_. Before she could dwell on it further, the Salarian Councillor cleared his throat noisily, clearly growing weary of the conversation.

"I'm more concerned with these Reapers, Commander. What do you know of them?"

Shepard shook her head, sliding back into her professional Commander routine. "The Geth believe the Reapers Gods, with Saren acting as the prophet for their return."

"We think this Conduit is the key." Anderson chipped in. "Saren's searching for it. That's why he attacked the Beacon on Eden Prime."

The Turian Councillor harrumphed. "Do we even know what the Conduit is?"

"Saren thinks it can bring back the Reapers." Shepard spoke, ever the epitome of calm collectedness. Shouting at the Council was fun, but right now, she would rather be hightailing it out of Citadel space, looking for answers in Artemis Tau. "That's bad enough."

The Turian Councillor flared his mandibles in exasperation. "_Listen to what you're saying!"_ Shepard rolled her eyes. "Saren bringing back machines to wipe out all life in the Galaxy? Impossible. It has to be. Where did these Reapers even go? They couldn't just _vanish_. How have we then found no trace of their existence?"

"You were looking in the wrong places." Shepard bit back, her temper rising. "I tried to warn you about Saren. You refused to face the truth. Don't make the same mistake again."

"But this is different." The Asari Councillor reasoned."You _proved_ Saren betrayed the Council. We all agree he's using Geth to search for the Conduit. But none of us know _why_." The Salarian Councillor nodded in concurrence.

"The Reapers are obviously just a myth, Commander. A convenient lie to cover Saren's true purpose. A legend he is using to bend the Geth to his will."

Shepard gave an exasperated sigh. "Even if it is," _Which it isn't_. "Saren is up to something and if we don't stop him, it's going to bite us all in the ass."

The Turian Councillor gave a sigh of his own. "Saren is a rogue Spectre on the run for his life. He no longer has the rights and resources of a Spectre. The Council has stripped him of his position."

"_That's not good enough_!" Udina barked, pointing dangerously up at the Council. "You _know_ he is hiding somewhere out in the Traverse! Send in your fleets!"

Shepard began to zone out when the petty bickering of politics started, instead attempting to formulate her own plan. _It's like talking to a brick wall._ When she spoke, a short, stunned silence fell.

"I can take him down."

The Asari Councillor nodded. "The Commander's right. There is a way to stop Saren that doesn't require fleets or armies."

The Turian turned his head towards her, frowning. "No, it's too soon. Humanity is not ready for the responsibility that comes with joining the Spectres."

The Commander spoke up, back straight and head held high.

"You don't have to send a fleet into the Traverse and the Ambassador gets his Human Spectre. Everybody's happy." She allowed herself a small internal smirk. _Who said Shepard couldn't do politics? _The Asari nodded once more.

"Commander Shepard, step forward. It is the decision of the Council..."

Shepard paid little attention to her words, or the people suddenly swarming to the balconies above, gawking at the scene in front of them. Instead, she focused her eyes on the Councillors as her thoughts returned once more the predicament with Liara. She could reason with herself that the Prothean Expert was a high priority target, at risk of extreme danger and could prove a valuable asset, meaning that immediately gallivanting after her was purely business. Try as she might however, Shepard knew that the bare fact of the matter, she just really wanted to see her friend. Her best friend.

It was almost pathetic, really. Shepard frowned slightly at the thought, her expression being mistaken by all present as the Commander taking in the levity of Spectre-ship. She and Liara had known each other for all of one week, fifteen years ago. What did that say about the Commander?

And a lot had happened in that time. Looking back at her teenage self, Shepard felt as if she were a completely different person. She idly mused whether her crush on the Doctor was still active, having waned and extinguished over the years as more pressing issues took to the forefront of her mind.

She let out a small, undetectable snort. Here she was, making history, on the brink of a Galaxy shaping mission and all she could think about was the current situation of one former employer of a decade and a half ago. _She probably doesn't even remember me_. Her mouth twisted into a slightly bitter smile. _I'll find out soon enough._

Ending their induction speech, Shepard said a few words, mostly empty. She was no stranger to these types of occasions and had perfected the art of saying what people wanted to hear. With a final, polite nod, The Commander turned, bounding down the flight of stairs once more, a renewed determination in her step. Down at the bottom, her new accomplices waited, looking at her expectantly. Standing up from leaning against a nearby wall, Ashley shot off a salute, a wry smile across her face.

"So, Spectre, what happens now?"

"Well," Shepard said, hands on hips as she examined the small party in front of her. "If I'm going to be hunting down Saren, I'll be needing a sturdy crew." She gave a lopsided grin.

"Any takers?"


	4. Short Round Rises

**AN – **These next two chapters are going to be familiar to anyone who read FLA. I've rewritten in slightly and changed some things (this is primarily from Shep's POV this time) and added a ream of new bits, but for the most part (plotwise) it remains roughly the same. (Nearly double what there originally was, though!) I would have just pointed to those two chapters already up, but it just felt weird leaving out what is (for this story) a fairly big mission. So sorry for that.**  
-**While writing a part of this chapter, I couldn't shake the idea of Wrex commandeering the Mako and sailing over a hill with the Dukes of Hazzard horn playing. If only the Xbox took mods. I would make that a reality in a heartbeat.

Onward!

.

* * *

.

**2183 CE**– Artemis Tau /Knossos/Therum Orbit  
**SSV Normandy**

Shepard stood, leaning against the Mako in the cargo bay as the squad suited up, a deep set frown etched in her features. Securing his final strap, Kaidan came to stand beside the Commander, studying her face.

"Everything alright, Ma'am?"

"Mhmm?" Shepard's eyes shot up to him as she jolted out of her reverie. "Oh, I- Yeah." She shook her head. "It's just, I knew I'd need a ship but I expected to rent or have the Council assign me one. Feels like I've stolen the Normandy, like I've thrown Anderson under a bus. I mean, this was his ship, y'know?"

Kaidan nodded, conceding the point as he stretched, making sure his hard suit was comfortable. "I guess. But it wasn't your fault Commander. Wasn't it the Captain who suggested it?" He shook his head. "Regardless, everyone on the ship is behind you, even if they are a little antsy about the new additions to the crew."

Shepard nodded grimly, before turning to the Lieutenant. "You're not, are you?"

"Nah. They seem like a solid bunch. I think Garrus is in love with this thing." He said, thunking the hull of the vehicle behind him. "Tali's already employee of the month down in Engineering and Wrex is just as grumpy and impenetrable as you."

Shepard scowled at the last remark, only to be undermined by the twinge of a smile tweaking at the corner of her mouth. She glanced over to the third Human in the squad, currently doing one last spot check on her rifle. "What about Williams?"

"Oh, she's fine with me and from what I've seen, has talents that deserve a better rank than Gunnery Chief." He frowned slightly. "But I haven't really seen her interact with any of the alien squad and when she's around them, she acts kinda awkward. But I don't want to pry too much, at least, not yet."

Shepard merely nodded, mentally filing the tid-bit away for future reference. Any further attention was pulled away however, by the approach of the resident Quarian. Standing in front of the Commander, Tali gave an awkward salute, still not quite used to her new military setting.

"Shep-_Commander_." She sighed, taking in a deep breath. "_Commander Shepard_," The Human gave a gentle laugh as Tali nervously fidgeted, psyching herself up to continue. "D-Do we have a plan for down there? I mean, well, what exactly is going to happen?"

"Well," Shepard said, not unkindly as she raised her voice. The other squad members slowed their movements, casually moving closer to listen to her. "We've sent down several hails and gotten no response, so outside of 'trouble'; I don't know what's down there waiting for us. So," She began to pace, coming to the rear of the Mako. Climbing up one step, she gave the door an affection smack. "We'll all pile into this thing, locate the dig site and extract Dr T'Soni-"

"Wait, Ma'am_, all of us_?" Ashley took a step forward as she tried her hardest to mask the apprehension in her features.

"Yes, Chief. There are eight seats and six of us. Now my maths isn't the best, but I think we'll fit." Shepard shot her a lopsided grin and shrugged. "Think of it as Team Building. Now," She began looking at the individual members of her crew. "Garrus, Wrex, you'll be in charge of the heavy artillery, Tali, the Mako's a bit of a glass cannon," she gave a soft laugh, "_Human craftsmanship, can't beat it_. So I want you to keep the bits falling off to a minimum. Ash, you'll be manning the turret, keeping any unwanted guests at bay. And Kaidan," she turned to the marine, a wide grin stretching across her face. "You'll be riding shotgun, doing navigation."

The marine's face fell. "Y-You sure, Ma'am? I mean, maybe I should just stay up here with Joker, running recon or something?" He turned to look to the source of a flanged chuckle.

"What's the matter, Alenko, scared of going on a little drive?"

Kaidan pouted at him as he passed, before making his way aboard the vehicle. "Give it five minutes, Vakarian, and then we'll talk."

Opening the hatch, Shepard rolled her eyes, voice rising an octave as she huffed.

"We've been through this, LT, it's not that bad, so unknot your panties and hop aboard."

Grumbling, Kaidan boarded the vehicle, earning a soft pat on the backside and cheeky grin as he passed the Commander.

.

* * *

.

_Artemis Tau/Knossos/Therum_  
**Prothean Ruin #Delta17**

As a team building exercise, the trip in the Mako proved successful. Traversing the arid wasteland that comprised Therum, the squad quickly fell into rhythm, working as a cohesive unit even in the confined space, making short work of Geth, Turret and Gates alike. Much to the Commander's chagrin, however, the crew also bonded over other aspects of the journey. Only Wrex seemed impervious to Shepard particular flare for piloting, grumbling with disappointment as opposed to motion sickness when it came time to part with the vehicle.

Now assembled and battle ready, the team set forth navigating the Geth infested valley between the squad and the dig site. Ashley and Garrus offered long range support, felling towered Geth in a few swift shots. Below, Shepard and Wrex formed the front line of assault while Kaidan and Tali followed just behind, keeping the brunt of the Geth at bay. The Commander couldn't help but pout slightly at her enforced distance, body crackling with pre-emptive energy, waiting to partake in battle. The synthetic beat down was still satisfying but part of Shepard yearned for the more personal mano et mano style she was accustomed to.

However, any doubts the Commander had about the gelling of her interspecies rag tag gang were soundly belayed by the team they liberated the entrance. They weren't just good; they were positively _deadly_, proven by the trail of various sparking Geth carcasses dotting the landscape. Without meaning to get ahead of herself, Shepard felt a renewed vigour well within her.

_We might actually be able to do this._ She smiled at the thought, only interrupted when Kaidan appeared over the crest of the valley, swinging the Mako round to form a crude barrier to the site's entrance. As he clambered out the vehicle, Tali approached Shepard, her Omnitool whirring fervently on her arm.

"Commander, my scanners can only get below a twenty meters of rock but from what I can see, there are no Geth signals coming from within the site and only one trace of life, presumably Dr T'Soni. Apart from that, it looks like we've cleared the surface, so we should have a clean extraction."

Shepard nodded, mulling over the Quarian's words. While there weren't any hostiles in immediate range, the Commander didn't trust for the Geth to stay away. Refusing to be caught like rabbits down a warren, the entrance would need to be guarded. Similarly, however, she was not willing to stumble blindly into a potential ambush. She shook her head.

How much could she really trust Liara? While Shepard had always prided in her sharp judge of character, the rational side of her; the smart side, the soldier, hammered into her skull that despite her fanciful, romanticised memories of their previous meeting, she had really only known the Asari no more than a week and as a hired gun at that. Even with the acquired savvy that growing up on the streets enkindled within her, Shepard had just been a child, a world away from the person she was today.

_In truth_, her rational side argued, t_he Asari had only really made an impact on her because she was the first person Shepard could remember that had shown her unconditional kindness_, conversing and interacting with Shepard not to fish for information or to try and sweet talk her into something. Apart from one altercation, Shepard had acted more as company in a strange land than anything else. _But once again_, her rational side continued, _she was just a child, still clinging on to that naive ray of hope that somewhere, there was a nice place, full of nice people and sunshine and rainbows_. She was older now. Wiser. _People always wanted something. No one was ever just 'nice'. _She sighed. Shepard didn't much like her rational side.

Shaking the thoughts from her head, she turned to her team, plan formulated.

"Alright, Garrus, Kaidan, you're with me, we creep in, grab the target, creep out. I don't want to spend any more time down there than I have to. Everyone else," she motioned to the three remaining members. "Set up a perimeter and stay sharp for any signs of movement. You see anything; I want signalled immediately, otherwise maintain radio silence. If Joker makes contact, keep him patrolling for hostiles. We ready?" she glanced around, pleased at the five determined nods she received. Giving one of her own, she set off for the site entrance as she secured her helmet, Garrus and Kaidan quickly falling into tow.

.

* * *

.

The tunnels were humid and unnervingly quiet, the silence punctuated solely by the gentle hum of generators. The trio tensed as they delved deeper into the system, wincing at the creaks and groans their metal boots made against rusted, swaying catwalks. Reaching an elevator in an otherwise dead end, Shepard swallowed, doing one last desperate sweep for an alternate route. As if reading her mind, Kaidan stood back from leaning over the nearby railing, tutting sympathetically.

"Only one way down, Commander."

"And one long way up." Garrus added, glancing back toward the now distant entrance. Shepard gave a grudging shrug.

"We don't have a choice and I-_We_ are not leaving her down here. Not without answers." Shepard replied, unsure whether or not she had imagined the slightly desperate inflection in her voice.

Activating the elevator, Shepard grimaced, cursing internally as it shuddered into life, announcing their arrival to just about every life form in the Knossos system. After what felt like an eternity, they stopped, piling out onto a lower walk way. Tentatively raising her hand to her ear, the Commander activated her comm. bud.

"Williams, do you copy? Williams?"

Beside her, Garrus was tinkering on his Omnitool, before bringing it to her attention.

"Shepard, we're twenty six feet down. Just out of range. We're on our own for now."

"Yeah." Shepard sighed before collecting herself, fixing her face. "Alright, stay fro-"

"H-Hello? Is anybody out there?"

Shepard spun on her heel and strode towards the source of the noise. Spotting her movement, the suspended figure blushed, offering a shaky smile.

"I'm trapped. I-I need help."

"L-Liara?" Shepard spoke, hating the broken tone of her voice and cursing the sudden dryness of her mouth. As she wrenched her helmet off, the figure in front of her squinted through the barrier.

""I yes- are you- _Oh_of course not Liara, why would humans come down here? And why would they bring a Turian? Don't be so dense. And look; now you're talking to yourself._"_

She gave a nervous laugh. Shepard barely reacted to her words, her attention instead caught on the Asari's appearance. Her eyes were dark with a weary tiredness and her usually soft and round cheeks were unhealthily hollow. Shepard hadn't spent enough time around other species to qualify her as any sort of expert, but she had met enough Asari in her time to know their skin shouldn't appear so pallid and waxen, even through the blue bubble that encased the scientist. She was slumped with exhaustion, a far cry from the prim and proper Doctor that Shepard had met years ago. The giddy emotions she nursed about meeting up with Liara were quashed, giving way to a confused curiousness.

"H-How'd you end up like that?"

Liara frowned slightly, critical of the Human in front of her.

""Hmm, yes, make myself retrace my steps. That would make sense, the dying throes of a deprived mind. Very well, I'll tell you. I had assumed this facility to be some form of Prothean experimental lab. I was fine until a Krogan came w-with some Geth. Can you believe that? I'm not sure I can. Geth beyond the veil? I suppose that was my first sign of delirium." She sighed, cursing herself. In front of her, Shepard quirked a sympathetic brow.

"It's more likely than you think. I've become somewhat of an expert on Synthetics these past few days." She offered a gentle smile but Liara merely looked at her, sceptical. "No Krogan though," she turned back to Garrus and Kaidan. "Should keep an eye out for that."

"What would you know? You're nothing more than a collection of fractured fragments of my memories. Regardless, as I was saying, he gave chase and I fell against the console behind, I am not sure what exactly happened. I would theorise that I activated the cell's door."

Shepard couldn't help but laugh at the image of the bumbling doctor flailing against the big threatening buttons. Above her, Liara gave a petulant pout.

"_Stop it_. You don't deserve to use her voice." She let out a low whine._ "__Oh Goddess_, I'm going to die down here."

"Calm down, Indy, we'll get you out there lickity spit. Just relax."

"Indy?" the Asari replied, lost in thoughts. "She called me that. Said she would be my Short Round." She gave small scowl. "I still don't know what that means."

Behind, Kaidan gave an audible snort. Shepard spun round, an indignant sulk plastered across her features.

"Hey, I am _no_ Short Round. If anything, I'm _Han_."

Kaidan only laughed harder, motioning towards Garrus.

"Yeah, sure. And what does that make the big guy over here? Chewie?"

"Don't be ridiculous, Threepio, he's nowhere near hairy enough. Less '_walking carpet'_ more '_sentient hardwood floor'_."

Kaidan groaned. "Ah, come on! At least make me Artoo."

Garrus watched the exchange, his brow plates furrowing in confusion. "I might not have any idea about what's going on, but I am deeply offended." He drawled. Kaidan's mirth turned sympathetic.

"The Commander's just been watching too many old Earth vids again."

Shepard gave an indignant snort. "Pfft. No such thing as 'too many'. You can't ignore the classics, LT."

Behind her, Liara groaned, exasperated.

"Even my hallucinations are mocking me."

"Blue, I assure you, we're not hallucinations. How long have you been up there?"

Liara blushed visibly through the barrier.

"A week at least." The Human in front of her frowned quizzically, causing her blush to deepen. "I gave up counting the days after seven."

A worrying understanding washed over the Commander. _Certainly explains her_ _complexion_. While she kept her tone gentle yet firm, all traces of levity dissipated from Shepard as a very real anxiety over her friend's wellbeing overcame the Commander.

"It's okay. We'll get you out of there soon, Blue, just hang tight."

"_Hang tight?_" She sighed. ""Now I know you're just mocking me. Fine. I shall play along. If you are as real as you claim to be, you will find a way to lower the barrier. However, the only controls are on this side. So good luck with that."

"Please," Shepard responded, hoping the humour in her voice would ease the Asari's tension. "All I hear is a challenge." Securing her helmet once more, she motioned for her squad to move out and followed behind them. Reaching the ramp, Kaidan and Garrus had already disappeared around the corner. Shepard glanced back to the suspended Asari as she whimpered after them, her voice little more than a hoarse muttering.

"Come back, soon, Alex. Please."

"We will Blue, I promise. You know me." She offered one last reassuring smile.

"I keep my promises."

.

* * *

.

Now firmly in the belly of the compound, the squad began examining the abandoned camp site and mining equipment for anything usable. Giving up on yet another crate of rusted iron girders, Kaidan huffed before moving onto the next, raising his voice to talk to the Commander rooting through a crate of her own.

"Hey, Shepard, I gotta ask, what's your fascination with all the old vids and stuff? You rarely ever talk about anything newer than two hundred years ago. You not a fan of this new Blasto series or something?"

"Mhmm?" Shepard said, glibly discarding a broken laser spanner. "Oh um, I dunno. Those vids and music are the newest stuff available in the public archives. I barely had two creds to rub together growing up, so it's not like I could afford to go see new stuff or buy the latest Ra'Quanda album. But I still got bored. Luckily there was a ton of free stuff to keep me occupied. Plus half the stuff I watched was all about the possibilities out in space without the First Contact souring everything." Shepard abandoned the crate, moving to another. Emerging from a nearby tent filled with nothing but bean cans, Garrus joined in the conversation.

"Well, yeah, but if it was free stuff you were after, why didn't you just pirate more up to date material? It's not like it's hard, a Krogan with a Varren on his ass could do it, blindfolded."

Shepard just shook her head. "Growing up I was little more than a shadow on the streets. Streets that were patrolled by cops who would happily sell out to the highest bidder. We risked going missing and becoming a statistic everyday just by virtue of being kids, unloved and unmissed. They could do whatever they wanted with us, since we didn't officially exist. I didn't want to give the fuzz a legitimate excuse to enforce the law. And anyway," she added defensively, "Half the old stuff's really good. Golden age of entertainment and all that."

Focused to the conversation in the back ground, Kaidan tripped, sending himself sprawling into the side of another tent. However, instead of falling through canvas, he fell painfully against a cold, hard surface, a metallic thrum reverberating through the cavern. Swearing loudly, he tore of the sheet covering the thing and his eyes widened in surprise. _This could be useful._

"Uhh, Commander, got something you might want to see." His fingers began dancing over the display as he heard the approach of his two squad mates. With instructions in Galactic Standard and a simple interface to accommodate the wide range of inputs, it was quickly apparent just what kind of apparatus they were dealing with.

"Is that... a _mining laser_?" Garrus interjected, mandibles flaring curiously. Edging in and staring down at the contraption, a wide grin grew on Shepard's face. Kaidan continued, triumphant.

"Yes it is, Vakarian. We aim it at the wall and in two to three hours, we can walk through and up, taking down that bubble from behind."

"That's not a bad plan," Shepard conceded. "If you're intent on falling asleep."

"What?" Kaidan sounded slightly offended. "How do you propose we speed up the process? It says here," he pointed at a dog eared sticker just above the interface. " 'For maximum optimisation within Serrice certified safety parameters, set to three quasars with a supply of 1.21 gigawatts, allowing for three feet of rock demolition per hour.'"

Shepard scoffed at him, a dangerous twinkle in her eye. "Yeah, _'within certified parameters'_. That's just Health and Safety speak for _boring_." She huffed slightly as she rolled the laser down the small slope, lining it up with the smooth ceramic wall before she began tinkering with the interface.

"See; let's spin these babies all the way round. How does six quasars and four gigawatts sound? _Maximum_ maximum, none of this wall tickling nonsense."

"Ma'am, _you could cause a cave in_!"

"I could, couldn't I?" Shepard looked up, meeting Kaidan's scandalised expression. "Oh come on, Calrisian, where's your sense of adventure?"

"I- wait, Calrisian?" Kaidan's face contorted into one of abject confusion. With an infuriating blasé, Shepard got on her hands and knees, playing with gears on the underside of the contraption with Garrus' help.

"Yeah, Calrisian. You got an upgrade for your outstanding contribution to making this mission _fun_. You can grow a moustache, right? I'll buy you a cape."

Kaidan merely stared dumbfounded as the Turian and Human rose to their feet, gauntlets dabbed with oil. Hand hovering over the on switch, Shepard shot off a manic grin, before thrusting her palm down.

An earth shattering crack erupted in the cavern as the wall in front of them was reduced to dust in a matter of seconds. Releasing a triumphant laugh, Shepard began sprinting down the freshly revealed tunnel. Kaidan merely looked incredulously toward Garrus, who only shrugged in response.

"At least she isn't boring."

.

* * *

.

Shepard's sprint eased into a stroll as she came up behind the hovering Asari, who could all but sense the shit eating grin on the Human's face. Turning her head slightly, she greeted the Commander.

"My mind must be breaking; I could swear I just heard a clap of thunder."

Shepard came around to the front, leaning nonchalantly against the blue barrier, causing it to ripple slightly at her touch as she began casually examining the fingertips of her gauntlets.

"Yup, that was me, mining laser, boom, hole in the wall. _Explosions_; that's my new thing." She offered a lopsided grin. "So here I am, Blue, in all my imaginary splendour."

Liara stared down at the helmeted Human, a shattering tiredness masking what expression she would have otherwise shown.

"Y-You came back?"

"I promised, didn't I?"

The pair fell into silence as they simply stood, staring at one another, Liara squinting to try and see through the Commander's dust encrusted visor, refusing to believe that the sparkling emerald eyes she had not forgotten in fifteen years were suddenly in front of her.

"Uhh, Ma'am?" Kaidan interrupted, arriving on the scene with Garrus just behind. "I believe the mining laser was _my_ idea?"

"_Yes_," Shepard rolled her eyes theatrically, moving away from the barrier and out of Liara's line of sight. "And I gave you a promotion to King of the Cloud People for your troubles, remember?"

"Excuse me Shepard," Garrus said, clearing his throat, "Not to interrupt your confounding Human naming rituals or anything but uh, _Indy, was it?_ Is still currently stuck in a big Prothean bubble thing."

"She is, isn't she?" Shepard agreed, examining the outline of the Doctor's back, coming to stand, arms extended in front of her. "Well, let's fix that; just start mashing buttons on that console over there. That's what you did, right Blue?"

Liara's indignant huff turned into a surprised gasp as she found herself falling. Instead of landing in an exhausted heap on the floor however, she found herself cushioned in the Commander's arms. Looking down at the Asari, Shepard froze as she was finally within touching distance of her oldest friend.

"Um, yeah, well, hey there." _Smooth, Shep, real goddamn smooth._ Her rational side began to berate herself as Liara slowly raised a trembling finger, tracing the thin scar that lined Shepard's cheek and jaw, ending at her chin.

"You; you're _real_."

"I-I am." Shepard stuttered, her cheeks blooming a furious red. _Seriously? That's the best you can manage?_ Instincts taking control, she quickly lowered her arm, letting Liara fall gently to her feet. As she held out an arm for the Asari regain her balance, the four nearly collapsed as an almighty rumble shook the cave, loosing a few rocks from the ceiling above. Garrus was the first to recover, sharp eyes scanning the area for hostiles.

"What in Spirits was that!?"

"_Your_," Liara growled ineffectually, lightly slapping the Commander's shoulder "liberal use of mining equipment most likely triggered a seismic event possibly waking the dormant volcano. It has limits for a reason. Hardly the most sensible course of action."

Shepard spun around, wild eyed as she petulantly glared at the Asari.

"Okay, One: _I'm_ not the person digging up bones _in a volcano_. Two: You're rescued, aren't you? Three: Why have such high settings on stuff if you're not meant to use it!?" She tapped the side of her helmet with a finger. "_Logic,_ T'Soni. Should use it sometime, it's fun."

"Yeah, _Shepard Logic_." Kaidan scoffed as the Commander stalked passed with Liara following in tow. Taking her by the arm, he helped guide the Asari's unsteady legs onto the platform at the back of the tunnel. Activating the elevator controls, the party ascended slowly, painfully aware of the rising heat, causing them to swelter where they stood. Coming to a shuddering halt, Shepard tensed as what she assumed was the Krogan and two Geth units Liara had mentioned approached. She kept eye contact, only tilting her head slightly in the other human's direction.

"Alenko, radio Joker, tell him to get his ass in gear and be ready for pick up and the Ground crew ready for potential trouble."

The Krogan stepped forward, leering at his prey.

"Surrender. Or don't. That would be more fun."

Shepard only glared.

"Unless you hadn't noticed, this place is falling apart."

"_Exhilarating_, isn't it?"

"And _I_ watch too many Earth vids?" Shepard muttered. The Krogan stepped closer still.

"Thanks for taking out those barriers, by the way. Spent weeks trying to figure out how to disable them. Now, hand the doctor over."

Shepard positioned herself between the Asari and the Krogan, raising her gun. Her jaw clenching as she scowled at the Krogan.

"She's staying with us. _Now step aside_."

The Krogan smirked.

"Oh, I can do better than that."

Shepard only had time to vaguely register his pupils dilate and nostrils flare before he was on her, sending her hurtling into the back wall, causing a sharp pain to shoot up the Commander's spine. Dazed, Shepard fired off her pistol directly into his neck. He barely flinched. She cursed. _Blood Rage? Just... super. Just what I need. _Out the darkening corner of her eye, she saw Garrus and Kaidan set to work on the accompanying Geth.

Her thoughts were brought back to the Krogan currently throttling her as she felt a sickening thunk as her helmet connected with the concrete, cracking the casing. Milliseconds later, she felt the powerful thrust of the Krogan palm against her head, splintering her mask and embedding shards of reinforced plastic into her face. Dots appeared in Shepard's vision as she failed to take breath, ready for the final sickening crunch.

Suddenly, the Krogan's eyes went crossed.

Barely visibly behind the Battlemaster's shoulder, Liara had panicked. Exhausted and wholly unprepared for anything as strenuous as walking, let alone confrontation, she barely had time to react as she swung her fist, sending a biotic wave at the pair, slapping the Krogan across the back of his head. As soon as she had done so, she collapsed to her knees, shivering violently. It had been a weak volley, but it did the trick, dazing the beast even if only momentarily.

The two soldiers flanking her turned around at the commotion as their Geth sputtered their few last sparks. Without hesitation, they quickly unloaded several rounds into his hide. A guttural roar erupting from his lungs, the Krogan spun around, discarding the Commander and charging the trio. However, with the continuous barrage of bullets, it quickly fell, cut down by the heavy fire, landing lifeless at their feet.

Liara glanced up, over at the Commander as Shepard drunkenly stumbled to her feet. The Asari let out a faint gasp as she caught site of her face. Blood cascaded down her mouth and chin, flooding from her nose as smaller streams trickled from the various shards embedded in her face.

The complex shuddered again. Shepard half staggered, half ran to her squad.

"Move, _move_!" Her two associates bolted, ensuring the path ahead was clear of any further hostiles. Struggling to manoeuvre herself into a standing position with her shaking legs, Liara found herself swept up and hoisted over the Commander's shoulders and carried in a fireman's lift as they sprinted for the exit. Neither having adequately functioning breathing apparatus, their lungs burned under the assault of ash and soot as smoke billowed around them without abandon.

Breaking the surface coughing and spluttering, the pair swallowed at the clean air hungrily and Liara felt herself lifted by two large, triple digit hands and with a surprising gentleness, carefully guided to the ground, firm fingers not allowing her to stumble. Glancing she was surprised to see the scarred maw of another Krogan, this one a different colouring to the one still lying in the dig site. It was only then she spied a ship a small distance away, the Commander already being barrelled into the open cargo bay, a stern looking older woman reprimanding her as Shepard set foot on the ship. Retching as she was guided towards the Bay herself, Liara was numbly aware of the conversation between the two humans.

"Commander, your repeated appearances in my med bay are beginning to make me think you have ulterior motives for getting so bloodied and bruised during your little escapades. Speaking of which, just how much blood do you have in your body? I've yet to recall a day you haven't came to my lab with at least a bloodied nose."

Liara could make out a dumb grin on Shepard's bloodied face as stared up at the Human doctor through puffy, bruised eyes.

"You think I'm falling for my nightingale, doc? Well, in that case, you could hardly fault my tastes."

The Commander slouched against a nearby crate as the medic began de-sharding her face.

"You have _the_ most curious methods of flirting, Commander. Unfortunately, you're not my type. I prefer my paramours to keep themselves in one piece.

Shepard's speech was slurred as she winced at the removal of further shards.

"You wound me with your words, doc. My heart's just about as cut up as my mug, right now."

"Mhmm. Lucky for you, Commander, these cuts aren't terribly deep. Some medigel and there won't even be scarring in an hour. Plus, you appear to be suffering little more than minor concussion. Truth be told I've seen you in worse shape at the end of shore leave."

Shepard nodded as she stood, swaying on the spot. Clapping eyes on the now alone Asari, the Commander motioned in her general direction.

"Doc meet doc. Liara, this is Chakwas, Karin, this is T'Soni. She... uh" Shepard's eyes glazed slightly as she frowned at the floor, trying to remember. "She's been trapped for a week...ish? She's deprived of sleep, dehydrated, lots of words beginning with 'De-'. Now," she gently poked the Asari in the chest. "I will see you in the debriefing room in half an hour and you," she repeated the action on Chakwas. "Up in the med bay in five minutes." Shooting off a flimsy salute, she stumbled towards the elevator. When the Commander eventually vanished from sight, Chakwas turned her attention to Liara.

"Pleasure to meet you, Dr. T'Soni. As the Commander mentioned, I'm Dr Karin Chakwas, Chief Medical Officer. Hopefully we shan't be seeing too much of each other in the coming months. Now if you could just open your eyes wide for a moment."

Liara numbly did as she was told as the Doctor shone a small torch in her face, studying every nuance in her expression. Activating her Omnitool, she quickly scanned the faint Asari. Pleased with her findings, she shot Liara a warm smile as she began rummaging through a small first aid kit.

"Physically, you'll be right as rain in a day or two, after a good meal and some sleep. However, I hope you don't mind me saying, you appear ready to pass out where you stand." She gave a slight grimace as she motioned Kaidan over.

"While I'm usually the first to question the Commander's orders, I understand her reasoning in wanting a mission debrief as soon as possible. Therefore I'm going to give you a small shot," she held up a small hypodermic needle with a glowing green liquid sloshing in it. "It's a booster. Something that should keep you awake for the next hour and a half or so. Lieutenant Alenko here-"

"You can call me Kaidan," he interjected with a small wave.

"_Kaidan_ here will take you up to the kitchenette," she turned to the Lieutenant. "Give her one of the high nutrient pastes and a bottle of the ionised water, then gather everyone in the comm. room for debriefing." She glanced down at the Asari's singed and soot covered outfit.

"Also, if you wish, I'm sure the Commander would be more than willing to find you some replacement clothing while we repair your current attire."

Liara nodded as the elevator dinged, announcing its return. Hearing the lieutenant fire off an affirmative at the medic, she allowed herself to be guided into the elevator. Already, she could her energy returning to her, waking her up while at the same time, clouding her memories of the past hour.

Was any of this real? Why did two sets of people come for her? Two sets of violent, trigger happy people at that. One claiming to be on the behalf of her mother and that Turian Spectre, the other, it struck her, she didn't even know. _Shepard, was it?_ What was her prerogative? Liara couldn't shake the familiar feeling she got upon seeing the Human. She could swear she looked like Alex but she would only be, what? Thirty by now? Far too young. An Asari at that age would be half her height.

At any rate, it was fanciful thinking; that in a Galaxy-ful of people, that she would run into a single human she had crossed passed with once years before. _Perhaps this was a sign?_ She decided she would begin searching for her Human friend the next chance she got.

She shook the idle musings from her overactive mind. She had more immediate, pressing issues to concern herself with right now. Liara had garnered more attention in the past two weeks than she had in fifty years of research. From her mother; one of her most vocal of critics, no less. While this would have thrilled her on any other day, the knot bubbling away in the pit of her stomach refused to loosen. Something big was happening. Something dangerous was on the horizon.

_Goddess, what have I gotten myself into?_


	5. I'mRunningOutOf ArcheologistsToReference

**AN** – As before, same story rewritten, hopefully better. This time quite differently. I think.  
- One thing I ballsed up last chapter was when Liara called Shep 'Alex'. In my head Kaidan and Garrus were already at camp and didn't hear. Must've forgot to add that detail. Egg on my face. Sorry for that.

.

.

* * *

.

**2183 CE** – Artemis Tau /Knossos/Therum Orbit  
**SSV Normandy**

Returning from the kitchenette, Liara took a tentative sip from her water, shuddering as she felt the coldness seep down her throat and spread through her torso. Still battling her jittery legs, Lieutenant Alenko looped arms with her and guided the Asari up to the main deck.

"I-Thank you for this, Lieutenant. Truly."

Alenko turned his head slightly, fixing her with a warm smile.

"Hey, no problem. And you can call me Kaidan."

"Kaiden?"

"No, _Kaidan_. Ahhh." He said, exaggerating the vowels as they passed the partition, entering the comm. room. He gave a small laugh. "Sorry, kind of a little pet peeve of mine. Which is annoying since people tend to mix it up quite a lot."

With the booster kicking into full effect, Liara gave little thought to Kaidan's rambling as she became aware of a numb tingling over her skin as her mind buzzed incessantly with the artificial wakefulness. Feeling the beginnings of a cold sweat forming in the crevices of her crest, Liara could do little more than nod politely and offer a few automatic words of greeting as Kaidan introduced her formally to the rest of the crew. While courteous and welcoming, they kept their words short and offered little in the way of dialogue, clearly hesitant and untrusting of the Asari. Liara wasn't sure if she imagined the small huff she gave, or whether anyone even noticed.

Taking her seat, she took another sip from her bottle. Inside her chest, she could feel her heart pumping at a steady if fast rate. The room was spinning slightly and the sound of voices faded in and out of clarity. Forcing her consciousness to form a coherent train of thought, Liara had come to the conclusion that she was dreaming, dying or both. At any rate, it wasn't an uncomfortable experience. If she was going die, she was at least thankful it would be somewhat pleasant.

She paid little attention to the swishing of the door, only looking up when the Commander entered her line of sight. Walking tall with her head held high, Shepard strolled confidently to the head of the room, turning and leaning on the console by the back wall, her cocky assuredness at odds with her current get up. Dragging her eyes up the Commander's body, nothing seemed out of place until Liara reached her face. Across the bridge of her nose, Shepard wore an oversized white strip which, like most other parts of her face was slathered in liberal servings of medigel.

Her oddest accessory, however, was the darkened, metal swimming goggles she wore over her eyes, emitting an almost inaudible hum. Liara let out a soft snort at the image, drawing the Commander's attention. The Asari suddenly became painfully self-conscious, feeling the weight of Shepard's stare despite the tinted lenses masking her actual eyes. Avoiding the goggles, Liara focused on the Commander's mouth, the corners ever so slightly tweaking upwards as her lips parted slightly, hinting at the teeth within. _That was a sign of hostility in most earthen species, yes?_ Liara's gaze became intent on the floor in front of her as her breathing took on a heavy timbre. Before the Shepard could speak however, Ashley chipped in, distracting her.

"Hey, Skipper, Halloween isn't for another month."

"Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up Williams. You're hilarious." Her sarcastic tone dropped to a painfully casual lilt. "Hey, Chief, do you like wearing your pink armour? 'Cause I can make that a permanent fixture if you want."

The Gunnery Chief's face turned deadly serious for a moment before another voice crackled over head.

"_That was too close, Commander. Ten more seconds and we would have been molten sulphur. The Normandy isn't equipped to land in exploding volcanoes. They tend to fry our sensors and melt our hulls. Just for future reference."_

"Oh come on, like you don't enjoy the challenge, Joker."

A snort of laughter crackled above before the comm. system before clipping out. Liara sat, confused as her head swayed on her shoulders.

"W-We nearly died down there and you're all making jokes?"

The Commander gave a small shrug and soft smile.

"It's what we do. Don't worry, you'll get used to it. Plus Joker just hauled us out by our asses; he's earned the right to a bit of sarcasm."

Liara gave an unconvinced murmur.

"I see. It must be a human thing. I am afraid I have limited experience with your species, Commander. For what it's worth, I am grateful to you, you saved my life back there. If not from the Ruin itself, those Geth would have killed me, or dragged me off to Saren." Idly, she noted the entire group of seated companions tense slightly at the mention of the names. Alenko, speaking on behalf of the group spoke up with a voice that while not accusatory, was certainly suspicious. Still standing, the Commander's brow furrowed as she contemplated his question.

""What did Saren want with you? Do you know something about the Conduit? Or Matr-" A harrumph from Shepard interrupted him as she turned, glaring even through the opaque lenses. Kaidan quietened. Liara flinched slightly, but was thankful for the Matriarch's omission from the discussion. Her own brow knitted as she focused on the still wobbling floor as she tried to focus her mind through the ever thickening haze of her consciousness.

"I only know that it was somehow connected to the Prothean extinction. That is my real area of expertise. I have spent the past fifty years trying to figure out what happened to them."

She glanced up to see an insufferable smirk appear on the Commander's face. The same insufferable smirk Alex had gotten when she was almost certainly up to know good. _Blasted delirium taunting me_. Next to Alenko, however, Williams' surliness gave way to unbridled curiosity.

"Just how old are you exactly?"

Liara blushed.

"I hate to admit it, but I am only one hundred and six."

Williams gaped, amused.

"Damn! I hope I look that good when I'm your age."

Liara delved into explaining Asari aging, her drug addled mind going off on a tangent, forcing her to wrestle her train of thought back on topic as she discussed the difficulties she had encountered attempting to have her work taken seriously. Her mind, unwilling to be tamed, began to delve into her controversial theory on the disappearance of the Protheans. Conscious of her own rambling, her eyes surveyed the crowd, looking on with a range of incredulity, boredom and indifference. Flicking her gaze over Shepard, she gave a small scowl at the dopey grin spread across the apparition's face. _My subconscious has the strangest imagination._

"Did I say something amusing, _Commander_?"

"No, no." Shepard's head recoiled slightly as she gave a comically serious frown, a pink tinge creeping up her neck, visible even through the layers of medigel. She began stuttering as she responded.

"I, uh, have my own theories on how the Protheans disappeared."

Liara barely managed to contain the roll of her eyes._ This should be fun, what will I manage to think up next? _Even if she was conversing with her imagination, the decorum and etiquette that had been bred into her as a child refused to leave her. Tilting her head, Liara dismissed Shepard, though not unkindly.

"Commander, _please_, I have heard every theory out there. The problem is finding evidence to support them. The Protheans left remarkably little behind. It is as if someone came along after the Protheans were gone and cleansed the galaxy of clues. According to my findings, the Protheans were not the first galactic civilisation to mysteriously vanish. This cycle began long before them." The slight smug in her expression was immediately quashed looking up at Shepard, who despite the goggles, managed to bore into her with a mildly condescending smirk. Liara pouted, only feeding the Commander's grin, almost if she were mocking her.

"Where'd you come up with this theory? _I _thought there wasn't any evidence."

Liara relaxed slightly. _I knew she was bluffing. She doesn't have anything. _She returned Shepard's smirk with equal self satisfaction.

"_I _have been working on this for fifty years. I have tracked down every scrap and shred of evidence. Patterns begin to emerge. Patterns that hint at the truth. It is difficult to explain to someone else. I cannot point to a specific piece of evidence to prove my case. It is more a feeling derived from half a century of dedicated research."

"But I know I am right." She continued, the smug dropping from her tone as she scrunched her face into a serious frown. "Eventually, I will be able to prove it. There were other civilisations before the Protheans. The cycle has repeated itself many times over. I have dedicated my life to finding out why, like so many before them, they just _vanished_."

"Well Blue," Liara gave a small huff at the Shepard apparition's insistent use of Alex's term. "I can save you a century or two; they were wiped out by a race of sentient machines called The Reapers."

_Well that's new. _Liara stared at the Commander apparition, eyes wide and slack jawed.

"The- the _Reapers_? I- how di- what evidence do you have?"

Some of Shepard's cockiness returned as that lazy lopsided grin returned.

"There was a damaged Prothean beacon on Eden Prime. It burned a vision into my brain." She deflated slightly, shifting her weight between legs."But it's confusing. I'm still trying to figure out what it all means."

Liara leapt to her feet with a wobble, ignoring her fatigue. She began pacing, each step making her stomach churn a little. But she was undiscouraged.

"_Yes_! That makes sense. The beacons were designed to transmit information directly to the mind of the user. Finding one that still works is extremely rare. It explains the attacks; the rewards of such information are worth practically any risk."

Liara came to a halt in front of the Commander and began examining the Human's sharp, strong, features critically. She barely took notice of Shepard's slight tensing, or the rosy hue returning to her cheeks. Internally, she gave a bitter chuckle. _Well that settles it. This is definitely a hallucination; this is far too good to be true. Beautiful slightly exotic alien to dish out all the exposition? Please, I wasn't born last decade. _Her features softened slightly as she gazed through the apparition's goggles but did not step away, instead deciding she rather liked the imaginary smell of soap and cinnamon softly radiating from the Commander. It was getting terribly difficult to form full sentences.

"I am amazed you were able to make sense of it all. A lesser mind would have been utterly destroyed by the process. _You_ _must be remarkably strong willed, Commander_."

The rosy tinge swelled into full blown beetroot, forcing a sheepish smile from Shepard's lips. Behind her, she heard two faint snorts of laughter from her two human squad members. Head whipping round, the smile was quickly replaced by a petulant scowl. Taking the hint, the pair settled as Kaidan tentatively re-entered the conversation.

"With all due respect, this isn't helping us find Saren, or the Conduit."

"You're right." Liara stepped back, her own cheeks tinting purple. Shepard found she already missed the faint hint of heat from the opposite figure.

"My scientific curiosity got the better of me. I apologise. Unfortunately I do not have any information that could help you find Saren, or the Conduit." _Or Mother_, she thought morosely.

Steeling herself, Shepard closed the gap between them once more.

"Look, I don't know why Saren wanted you out of the picture, But I_- _Liara, are you alright?"

The Asari swayed dangerously on her feet as her glazed eyes stared drunkenly at the Commander. With a sigh and a goofy grin, she began to slur.

"Ohwellthen! 'thhhis conversashhun was fun while it lasted, was it not, my dashing Spectre?" She bopped her index finger lightly on the Commander's nose. "Heh, geddit? Spectre. Because you are a ghost... or... _something_." She gave an undignified snort, her head drooping. "It is pun that is also fun. It's punny!"

And then she fainted.

Catching the unconscious Asari in her arms, the Commander stood silently for a moment, slightly confused by the turn of events. Suddenly aware of five pairs of bemused eyes and gleeful smirks aimed in her direction, she shifted Liara slightly so the pair could stand straighter. Shepard cleared her throat, cursing the flush in her face as she felt the steady rise and dip of Liara's chest against her own, her fatigues suddenly feeling horrendously restricting.

"Okay then."

Looking nervously from squad mate to squad mate, she struggled to invoke any sense of strictness in her voice.

"_Dismissed_?"

.

* * *

.

Liara's mind sifted slowly from unconsciousness. A soft snoring woke her ears before the waft of indeterminable food tickled her nostrils. Her head fell to the side as she cracked open groggy eyes. She frowned, trying to make out the figure slumped in the seat in front of her. No longer addled with exhaustion, a small pang of fear reverberated around her being, before blooming into embarrassment. _This is turning out to be a rather vivid dream. Unless... _She groaned. _Goddess_-

Alerted by the noise, the figure startled in her chair, but remained in throes of sleep.

"Ugh, Emil, you're such an ass biscuit." She curled up, rubbing her face with her hands. Brushing against her goggles, she gave a mumbled curse, fumbling to remove them. With an unnerving pop, they slipped of her eyes. She blinked exaggeratedly, eyes acclimating to the room. Liara gave a sharp intake of breath at the sight.

The sparkling green eyes, while terribly blood shot, were unmistakable, glinting in the low light. Liara's gaze roved, taking in the other details of the figure. The scar, the light smattering of freckles, her delightfully fiery hair were all present and correct. There was no doubt the identity of the figure. Despite this, certain differences were present and Liara decided that all of them were positive.

In their time apart, the child had grown into a woman. _A powerful, bold, beautiful bux- no. Stop it, she's your friend. _She gave her head a weak shake, hoping to banish the growing blush on her cheeks. The Human had grown almost a foot in height, Liara estimated and, along with the collection of lithe, strong muscles that pulsed visibly even through the snug fatigues, she appeared a far cry from the scrawny street rat Liara had once found in her employ. She gave a soft, wistful sigh at the sight. _Wait, no, I- Goddess, what's wrong with me?_

Her stomach grumbled, waking the Asari from her idle musings. She let out a pitiful groan. The figure's movements froze as her artfully sculpted frame tensed. _Artfully sculpted? Really? _She mentally berated herself as the figure turned slowly towards her, meeting her gaze. The fear on her face gave way to the soft lopsided grin. Liara tried to form words, a question, a greeting, anything.

"I-wha- bu-who-i-is-_is this real life_?"

"Nah," Shepard grinned. "It's just fantasy."

Liara's features flattened in confusion.

"What?"

"I-uh," Shepard scratched the back of her neck, a cute blush creeping across her features. "Bad joke. Terrible joke. Sorry."

Wrenching herself up on the small cot, Liara cradled her face in her hands, shoulders slumped in exasperation. Barely managing to collect herself, she turned back to the Human, her eyes pleading.

"Please, just tell me... are y- is thi-" she gave a heavy sigh. "_Alex_?"

She wasn't sure what to expect in terms of the Human's reaction, but the wide, warm smile she received still managed to surprise her.

"Hey," She responded with mock indignation. "That's Commander Alex; I haven't served twelve years for nothing, y'know." Her voice became soft, the corner of her mouth quirking slightly.

"Howdy, Blue."

Liara wondered where the yap of laughter came from in the tiny room, before realising it had originated from her. Eagerly, she attempted to stand from the bed only to be met with the immediate protest from every muscle in her body, burning painfully. A motherly worry swarmed Shepard's features as she stood from her chair, ushering Liara back into resting on the bed.

"Hey, easy now. You've been dangling for two weeks. You're legs need to learn how to stand again."

Seizing the opportunity as Shepard guided her by the shoulders, Liara brought the Commander into a tight hug, startling the Human slightly. After a moment the hug was returned, albeit more gently, taking into account the Asari's weary body. Nuzzling her nose into the crook of the Commander's neck, Liara inhaled, the Human's glorious scent filling her lungs. _Gloriou-oh. _Realising what she was doing, Liara's head snapped back, the purple of her cheeks concealed in the dim lighting. Nervously avoiding eye contact with Shepard, Liara instead took to examining her environment, a self-conscious quiet falling between them. Her brow knit.

"Wh-what happened?"

Eager to put the awkward silence behind them, The Commander smiled, pulling her chair up closer to the bed before settling.

"It seems like your ordeal finally caught up with you. Had me worried for a bit there, T'Soni. Still, makes a pleasant change from me fainting all over the place." She gave a nonchalant shrug. "Live and learn, I suppose."

Liara scrunched her nose in confusion.

"And what, pray tell, did we learn from this?"

"Well," The Commander gave one of her infuriating smirks. "That A) it's not very bright idea to go around playing with an Ancient Mysterious Species' Ancient Mysterious Toys and B) Asari and Amphetamines don't mix. Or maybe you're just allergic. Chakwas said she needed a bigger sample size to be sure."

"Fine," Liara grudgingly conceded, her face blooming with embarrassment once more. "Where are we?"

"The Storage room behind the Med Bay, on my ship. You _do_ remember coming aboard?"

"I- yes, vaguely."

"Chakwas wanted you in the Med Bay, but I know how you like a quiet space to think. Plus it's nice and dim in here. Helped my eyes heal." She pointed to the opaque goggles, now lying discarded on the floor. "Had some tiny fragments needed removing. Turns out Plexiglas and eyeballs don't mix. Who knew?" she shot off a weak grin and despite herself, Liara couldn't help but return it. As Shepard picked up the goggles, Liara extended a tentative hand, asking for them. Lifting them to her face, she examined the pair, wincing when she saw the intricate machinery inside. Instead of simple lenses, there were four small hooks, presumably to hold the eyelids up while the little jets sprayed intermittently into the eye. Liara grimaced. It looked like more of a torture device than medical apparatus. Gingerly, she placed it at the foot of the bed. She returned her gaze to the Commander.

"So," she cleared her throat. "Alex, you look-"_ Dashing, gorgeous, stunning, handsome. _"Good."

"You're not too bad yourself." Shepard gave bashful grin, her eyes glued to the fidgeting fingers in her lap. Quickly she regained some of her conceit, flashing the Asari a soft smirk, her eyes, while still gentle, sparkled with a slight mischievous. "Y'know, apart from the whole '_nearly dead from starvation because you just had to push the big threatening button_' thing. Speaking of which," She picked up the tray of food from a nearby crate, laying it on Liara's lap. "Eat up. You need it."

Liara eyed the food suspiciously. It looked like... well she didn't fully know what. The smell however, had her salivating almost instantly. Picking up the tumbler of orange liquid, she sniffed. Bubbles fizzed in her nose and it smelt almost insufferably sweet.

"What is this, exactly?"

"Fry up. And a soft drink. Grease and sugar." She grinned. "Tastes better than it sounds. Honest. It'll help get some energy in your bones while we ease you back into health. _Also_," She added as an afterthought, "Excellent hangover cure." As if realising what she just said, Shepard straightened, her eyes darting shiftily as she spoke at speed slightly too fast to be believable. "I mean, so I've heard. I-I've certainly _never_ had to use it."

Liara laughed, genuinely feeling happy for the first time in a while. Tucking into her meal, she was pleasantly surprised by the taste. It was horrifically unhealthy but _by the_ _Goddess_ it was delectable. Swallowing her second mouthful, she became aware of the Commander watching her intently. Breaking the silence, she spoke as the third forkful was raised to her mouth.

"So, wha-what have you been up to since we last met?"

"You mean _besides_ being the most kick-ass Commander in Human Naval history?" The cocky smirk faded as she gazed off into the distance, her brow furrowing and voice dropping. "Not much, really." It was certainly true. After her shift ended or when on shore leave, Shepard was more than content to retreat to her bunk and sleep, or if sleep refused to come, read. When - _If_ - she corrected herself mentally, she ventured ashore, it would only be for some personal supplies or to go drink alone in the darkened corner of a bar. In truth, the only reason she had been more sociable on the Normandy was due to her posting alongside Kaidan, who would drag her out grumbling and groaning if he had to. Even then she had only really bothered to interact with Joker, if only to appease her fellow marine.

Her frown deepened. _What did that say about her? _She was nearly a thirty year old Commanding Officer for crying out loud. _Pathetic_. While she wanted to argue against the vindictive voice in her head, she had to agree. Twenty Nine years living, Twelve in service and what did she have to show for it?

Focused on her meal, Liara failed to see the darkened expression on the Commander's face. Instead she spoke again.

"What about those children you were so fond of, then? I couldn't imagine you parting with them under any circumstances."

Shepard's self loathing melted into guilt, her eyes falling, voice turning oddly vulnerable. She gave a weak shrug.

"They, uh... They _outgrew_ me." She stated simply, giving a sad, half-hearted smile. "Made a good life for themselves. An honest life." _More than I ever did._ The loathing came back full force. She gave a dark snort. _They were better off the second I left._ "Didn't need me anymore."

"Oh I doubt that," Liara ploughed on, not looking up, giving a small laugh. "What about young Ivy? She was besotted with you, as if you were the centre of the universe."

Shepard looked momentarily surprised at the mention of the name, before tightness in her throat and prickling in her nose forced her to cough and give a forceful sniff.

"She-she was too good. Didn't deserve her." She lapsed into silence as Liara continued to tuck into her food, thankful for the Asari's distraction. She shrugged again, this time with more vigour, continuing as vaguely as possible.

"Stuff happened-" _Stuff? Elysium, Akuze, Torfan, Ivy, Emil; just... stuff? No wonder you don't have many friends. _ Her eyes narrowed and frown deepened at the disgusted Not-Shepard voice in her mind. Forcing the morose thoughts from her mind, she continued. "_Stuff Happened_ and here I am."

"Here you are," Liara gave a nod, watching Shepard's tortured expression out of the corner of her eye, unsure how to approach it or comfort her, a squirreling in her gut convinced she was the one to cause such distress. She hadn't meant to. Attempting to make amends, she gave a small smile. "For what it's worth, I'm grateful for the turn of events that led you to Therum. So thank you."

Shepard met her eyes, a weak smile on her lips. While there was no trace of anger directed towards the Asari in her expression, there was an inherent sadness bubbling just below the surface. It brought little relief to Liara, who returned to her meal, attacking it with noticeably less vigour. Glancing up again, she saw Shepard erect a strained smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. She spoke again, with forced levity in her voice.

"So, what about you, _Miss Croft? _Raid many tombs? Shoot any exotic wildlife in the face?"

Liara gave a puzzled look

"Who- I- no. Shooting faces tends to be your area of expertise."

_Yeah, it is._ The Not-Shepard in her mind sneered. _Or don't you remember pushing the barrel of your gun up those Batarian noses? Even the children? How about that time you set fire to a Hospital? That was fun, wasn't it? You monster_. Despite the bile that rose in her throat at the memories, the run in she and Liara had experienced with the French gang back on Earth was not something she regretted, feeling no semblance of guilt. She stared firmly at the Asari, the commanding authority she had honed coming in full force.

"Hey, we went through this. _Nobody hurts you_. Not while I'm around."

Liara nodded, the corner of her lip quirking slightly. Inside, she was flattered and oddly joyous at the fierce protectiveness in Shepard's tone. Thinking back, she was dully aware that no one had spoken to her, or about her like that, ever. Sure, with Mother it had always been implicit but it was warming to get affirmation and reassurance. Her gaze dropped from Shepard's, bashful.

"Regardless, my life has not been as eventful of yours. Unless you would like me to regale you with my findings of a Prothean public bath and difficulties in creating a functional Cipher."

"I would, actually." Shepard said with genuine enthusiasm, eternally thankful for the change in topic. She had researched Protheans as something of a hobby during her free time. Passing it off as a simple nerdy pursuit to those who pried, Shepard had always childishly feared the embarrassment of people discovering the true reason for her interest in a small subset on the furthest fringes of research. With a gleeful smugness, she thought, it was finally going to pay off, after having imagined somehow meeting up with Liara again for years and wooing her with the surprising knowledge.

Such smugness was short lived however, as Shepard took note of the apprehension etched across the Asari's face. The Commander watched patiently as Liara's complexion darkened slightly, wringing her hands with an adorable nervousness.

"I, ah, Shepard, I-I hope it is not too imprudent of me, but perhaps later we can discuss your interactions on Eden Prime? It's just; you were marked by that beacon, touched by working Prothean technology! I must admit, I find you fascinating- _n- not that you were not fascinating before_-" Her eyes widened, panicked."- I- I do not mean to offend you, I only meant that you would be an interesting specimen for in-depth stud- _no that makes it sound worse_."

Shepard did little to contain her small fit of laughter as Liara attempted to navigate her imagined minefield.

"Oh, deary me, Blue!" she wiped a tear from her eye. "Sounds like you want to dissect me in a lab somewhere."

"I- _No_!" Her eyes were positively bulging now. "I-I did not mean to insinuate- _oh_," Liara was tripping over herself, babbling incoherently as her cheeks bloomed in colour. Shepard gave a sympathetic pout. _She's so cute when she's flustered_. Taking pity on the Asari, she interrupted her ramblings.

"It's okay, Liara, I'm only joking."

Liara blushed profusely, hanging her head.

"_By the Goddess_, I am so dense. You must think me a complete and utter fool. I have yet to fully understand the intricacies of human humour. Mother always said I should have spent more time honing my social skills."

Shepard sighed, finally having arrived at where the conversation had inevitably been heading. She scratched the back of her neck, before dragging her hand through her hair, dishevelling it further. _As if I haven't been awkward enough already._

"You haven't, by any chance, talked to Matriarch Benezia recently, have you?"

Liara gave an exasperated snort, folding her arms and clenching her jaw.

"_No I have not_. I haven't seen her since Earth." Her expression softened as she looked up at Shepard, uncertainty in her eyes.

"The Krogan at the dig site mentioned her, before he started giving chase. He said that she wanted me to be with her, for my knowledge of the Protheans. But she _hates_ Protheans." She widened her eyes and deepened her voice to imitate the Matriarch. "_Archaeology helps no one_, _you're wasting your time and others. You will achieve nothing.'." _Her expression dropped. "That's the last thing she said to me when I was leaving for university. Why would she change her mind now?"

Shepard shrugged.

"I-I don't know." She sighed. "What I _do_ know is that she is an associate of Saren Arterius; a rogue Turian Spectre wanted for the murder of Nihlus Krylik in addition to heading the attack on the civilian colony of Eden Prime. He's the reason we've got Geth beyond the Veil."

Liara shook her head despairingly.

"I _warned_ her he was not to be trusted. _I knew it_. Spectres, they are all the sa- _sorry_. But surely you can see why I feel this way?"

Shepard nodded, coming to sit beside Liara on the cot, pulling the Asari into a tight hug and rubbing her arm comfortingly. Liara leaned into the embrace, her head resting against the Commander's shoulder.

"And now, Mother is implicating _me_ in all this, _Goddess_. I see the way your crew look at me. They do not trust me. I do not blame them." She pulled away. "But Shepard, please believe me, I am not-"

"-_Your mother_. I know. And I'll always trust you. You're my friend Liara, remember that. No matter what happens, it's me and you, Red and Blue, against the world." She gave the Asari a reassuring smile and was relieved when Liara's head returned to her shoulder. They sat in silence for a while, content to merely be in one another's presence.

"Noveria." Liara finally said. "Mother had mentioned a Binary Helix corporation. I did some research not long after our final confrontation. They are based on Noveria. I can only hazard a guess as to her location, but I would start there."

"Thank you," Shepard nodded, morose, annoyed with the increasingly complicated situation they were fidning themselves in. "Look, Liara, I'm sorry-"

"For what? Do not apologise for my Mother's actions, Shepard. They are not your doing." Liara was met with a weak smile. Her stomach churned as she worked up the nerves to ask her next question.

"Shepard, if I may, could I accompany you when you land on Noveria? While I do not doubt your words, I would like the opportunity to see the Matriarch for myself."

"Of course-" Her Omnitool bleeped, cutting off whatever Shepard was about to say. Activating the Omnitool, she hugged Liara closer, reading the display around her. Pressed into the Commander's chest and wrapped in such strong arms, Liara's stomach gave an involuntary flutter as a dopey grin threatened to spill across her lips. It was soon replaced by a pout as Shepard gave an annoyed tut.

"Looks like the Council's getting impatient for my report. No rest for the wicked, eh?" She fixed Liara with a sympathetic smile as she ended the hug and stood. Eyes catching the empty food tray she turned back to the Asari.

"If you're still hungry, and _I wouldn't blame you if you are_, feel free to plunder the cupboards in the kitchen area. We're heading back to the Citadel anyway, so don't worry about finishing anything. Doc says you're going to be feeling rough for a couple of days, so I don't want you to fret about anything other than getting better for now. When you're feeling up to it, come out and get to know the crew. They're a good bunch and after five minutes, I promise you they'll love you nearly as much as I do." She froze in place for a second. _Did I really just-? Shut up. Keep calm. Play it cool. _Her grin flared back into life. "We'll catch up on everything properly later, okay? And hey, if you play your cards right, _I might even let you dissect me_." She gave another grin. "Y'know, over dinner or something?"

The Asari blushed but nodded nonetheless. A giddy excitement ran through Shepard at the sight. She made for the door before turning around one last time.

"Hey, Liara? I-I'm really glad I found you again."

Liara's colour deepened as she curled up on the cot, sleepiness catching up to her once again.

"As am I, Shepard."

With a polite bow, Shepard left the Asari to her slumber, feeling a peaceful calm for what felt like the first time in an age.

.

* * *

.

Strolling out of the med bay, Shepard caught Kaidan's eye as he sat at the Mess table, eating a bowl of cereal. Spotting her, he gave a wide grin, some milk escaping his mouth, causing him to immediately pout and swipe at his jaw. Turning back to the Commander, his mirth remained untempered.

"So," He swallowed his mouthful. "That's the infamous '_Blue'_ I've been hearing so much about."

Shepard's eyes narrowed with amused suspicion as she came to lean against the nearby partition, humouring the marine.

"When have I ever talked to you about Liara?"

"Oh never about '_Liara'_," he nodded animatedly, finger quotes in full swing. "But you're a talky drunk and I've sat there on the bar stool beside you long enough to know that when inebriated, you only talk about three people." He leaned forward on his elbows, gleeful smirk still in place as he listed the names off on his fingers. "Little Ivy from back on Earth, Emil or this mysterious '_Blue'_ figure." His smirk melted into a warm smile as his tone softened. "Garrus and I saw how you reacted when we finally clapped eyes on her in that dig site. You were like a knobbly-kneed teenager asking someone out to prom. You were so giddy; _it was embarrassingly adorable_. And don't think I didn't spy the way you choked when Garrus dropped that bubble and she fell into your arms. Nice move, by the way. Very romantic. Very sweet. I needed to brush my teeth as soon as we got back on board the Normandy."

Shepard let out a dramatic sigh, one eye brow quirking questioningly.

"I trust you're going somewhere with this, Alenko?"

"All I'm saying," he raised his hands defence, that smug smile returning to his face. "Is that it's nice to finally meet the person who stole your heart."

This got the Commander flustered. Her eyes opened wide as she frowned, pursing her lips.

"I-She hasn'-What gave you-I mean I'm not- she certainly isn'-" She gave up, hanging her head in defeat as Kaidan sat laughing at her. Tears subsiding, he decided to take pity on the woman.

"I'm just poking fun. It was nice, to see you like that, really." He added, sincere. Kicking out a chair, he motioned for the Commander to sit. Leaning on her elbows, she rested her chin against clasped hands. Kaidan had to fight further laughter at Shepard's unsure yet serious tone.

"D-Do you think I have a chance with her?"

"I don't know. I mean, from what I saw of her yesterday, she was pretty out of it, so I don't know what she's _really_ like." His brow furrowed for a moment before looking back up to Shepard. "Hey, so I take it that's a final 'no' to a bit of _Special K_, then?"

Raising her eyebrows, Shepard stared at him, comically unimpressed.

"You're referring to yourself as _Special K_, now?" She leaned forward conspiratorially, her face a mask of mock seriousness. "My dear sweet Lieutenant," she gave a sad shake of her head. "I'm afraid I'm going to have refer you to psychiatry for all these delusions of grandeur you're suffering."

Unfazed, Kaidan leant back in his seat, tucking his hands behind his head.

"You're missing out, Ma'am. I'll have you know that I've left a long trail of heartbroken women in my wake."

"And several men."

"Hey, you got it, flaunt it. It'd be criminal not to share my gift with the world."

They shared a laugh before lapping into a comfortable silence. Eventually nodding his head towards the med bay door, Kaidan spoke, back to his softer self. "What'd you talk about in there?"

Shepard relaxed in her chair, sighing. "Not much. Just what we've been up to, some mission stuff and then I told her not to keep cooped up in that little den. You know, socialise a bit."

Kaidan snorted, earning a genuinely confused look from Shepard.

"Did I say something funny?"

Calming down, Kaidan shrugged. "Well, you know, it's just humorous," he said, as if struggling to explain a blatantly obvious joke to someone. "To imagine someone taking socialisation advice from... _you_." He finished, flapping his hands at Shepard. At her continued flummoxed expression, he sighed, face turning serious.

"Well, I-I mean, I hope it's not news to you, but you're not much of a _people person_, Commander. Aforementioned '_Blue'_ excluded, I'm the closest thing you have to a friend, and like I was saying to Joker the other day, I don't even know your first name."

"Oh." Shepard's gaze fell to the table as she thought, her face unreadable. Glancing back up at the Lieutenant, she failed to hide the slightly wounded inclination in her small voice. "You talk about me behind my back?"

"No, _no_," Kaidan replied, already regretting his choice of words. "It's just that, Joker was asking me how to try and get through to you, and bond, y'know? An-and he said the same. You're more than willing to talk to people about every subject under the sun, but as soon as they point the needle at you and your life, you palm them off and deflect them or start... quipping."

Shepard merely stared at him, rapt, her mouth opening slowly.

"I-Quipping?"

"Yeah, surely you've noticed? Whenever something takes a turn you don't like, you start wisecracking and making jokes. And, I mean that's _fine_," he added, as if to make up for the first sentence. "As a coping mechanism, it's to be expected in a high stress job like this, but when it comes to talking to people and friendship," he struggled to find the words. "I-It's a two way street. You've got to open up to them the way they do to you." He lapsed into silence, apprehensively watching for the Commander's reaction. However she remained infuriatingly indecipherable.

She sat, contemplating his words in soft state of shock. She hadn't been expecting that. It wasn't that she was being told anything she didn't already know, after all, she had lived with the negative Not-Shepard in her mind for as long as she could remember, telling her such for years. But actually hearing it from someone else? It was... _sobering_. She would have to dwell on this further. Standing, stony faced, she addressed Kaidan.

"We're about seven hours out from the Citadel. I have some work to do in my quarters. If anyone should ask, inform them I don't want to be disturbed until we dock and not a minute before."

She began to pace toward her quarters when Kaidan, exasperated, called out.

"Look, Shepard, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you or-"

She turned around, eyes momentarily flicking over him and despite her flippant tone, her face remained set.

"Trust me, if I was offended, you'd know about it."

He watched her leave, eyes focused on the door she had vanished through for a few moments longer, before planting his head on the table, covering it with his arms, letting out a frustrated sigh.

_I am such an ass._


	6. Operation: BFFs 5eva

- I would've split this into two separate chapters but then I think I would've ended up dragging this part out longer than I really wanted to. So that means you get this monster of a chapter. So suck it. Hope you like bonding.  
- Also, I keep having to correct myself typing Silurian every time I write Salarian. 'Tis annoying.

.

.

* * *

.

**2183 CE** - Serpent Nebula/Widow Cluster/Citadel/Docks  
**SSV Normandy**

Surveying the now gleaming arsenal of the Normandy's weaponry, Gunnery Chief Williams gave a contented sigh. Despite still being slightly bitter about her family's injustice, Ash had long come to terms with the prospects of having hit her own personal glass ceiling as far as promotions were concerned. It had been heart crushing at first, contemplating topping out at her current level but soon she had decided that if this was her lot in life, she would be the best Goddamn Gunnery Chief this side of Hades Nexus. And here her babies lay, all oiled and modded, ready for action at a moment's notice. And it had barely gone 0900 hours. _She was good. _

Being so good however, had certain drawbacks. For example, due to her excellent efficiency, she now had the rest of the morning off in addition to this evening's shore leave. While normally she would be quite contented curling up on her bunk and reading the time away, scuttlebutt was that the Commander wasn't planning on regular trips in and out of civilised space, meaning it could be months or days before their next leave depending on how the mission progressed. This left Ash with something of a conundrum. _While she wanted to go out and soak in as much of the Citadel while she still could, she had nothing to do there. All her previous friends in 212 were gone and while Kaidan and the rest of the crew were friendly enough they weren't-_

Her thoughts were interrupted by the distant swish of a door, the echo amplified in the otherwise silent cargo bay. She heard the filtered voice before she saw the shadows creeping from Engineering.

"So you're telling me this Vegoos settlement on Earth is dedicated to Humans who have just embarked on their own pilgrimage?"

"Well I don't know if 'pilgrimage' is the correct term for a coming of age 'blackjack and booze cruise'," Ash was surprised to hear the easy lilt of the Commander's tones reply, her arm slung casually around the young Quarian's neck. "But yeah, I guess so." Shepard caught sight of the Gunnery Chief, her face lighting up. Accompanying Tali to the elevator, she drew a close to the conversation.

"Anyway, since we don't have long enough this shore leave, next time we shall celebrate your pilgrimage the only way us Humans know how." Shepard's grin only widened at the unsure slumping of the Quarian's posture. "Don't worry; just think of it as a lesson in Human culture. Only, y'know... without much _culture_."

At this Tali seemed to ease, letting out a soft laugh as she stepped into the elevator. "In that case, I look forward to 'earning my stripes' as you put it, Commander."

"Please; it's Shepard." She grinned as Tali pressed the button.

"Very well, _Shepard_." The Quarian gave a small wave as the doors closed. Ash silently watched as the Commander waited for the lift to vanish out of sight before spinning on her heel, catching the Chief's gaze once more, startling the woman slightly.

"Williams! Just the soldier I wanted to see!"

"I-uhh, Y-you wanted to see me Ma'am?"

"Yeah." Shepard replied, as if it was the most obvious question in the world. Approaching, she took her position in front of the nearby lockers and reclined, folding her arms as her eyes bore into Ash intently. "So, Chief, you got anything planned today?"

"Well-I-g-guess..."

"No? Perfect! You can join me in the shooting range then. It'll be awesome."

"Y-yeah, _sure_, Ma'am- wait, shooting range?"

Shepard nodded in response, almost comically serious. "Garrus was telling me of this place, down in the Academy, it's open to all Council employees which, as of last week, includes me. And since Spectres make their own rules, you're joining me."

"Okaaay," Ash replied, frowning in confusion. "But... _why_?"

"Why not?" Shepard shrugged. "I wanted to have a girls day out. But Liara's got stuff of her own to do and Tali's trying to get in touch with the Fleet, update her Dad on what she's doing." She drifted off for a second, lost in her own thoughts before snapping back to the present. "Anyway, that leaves me and you. Now forgive me for being presumptuous, but you don't strike me as the 'shopping and mani/pedi' type."

Williams gave a small laugh. It was surprisingly easy talking with the Commander, a far cry from the bellowing Hell Beast unleashed on the Council just over a week ago.

"Yeah, yeah, you got me there."

Shepard feigned relief. "Thank. God. I do _not_ do dresses." Her tone turned slightly more serious while still remaining jovial. "So, I'll meet you at the airlock in-" she glanced at her chrono. "-thirty?" she nodded. "Thirty." She clapped Ash on the arm before beginning to drift backwards towards the elevator. "_I_... shall see you... _then_."

.

* * *

.

Kaidan sat at the Mess table, coffee cup in hand as he stared at it, brows furrowed, as if willing answers to appear on the mug's side. He had made sure to get up slightly earlier than usual so that he could accost the Commander as soon as she emerged from her quarters and apologise for his words the night before. However, when she finally did step out the door, he was surprised she didn't immediately bite her head off, enraged at him. Stranger still, she wasn't angry at all. She was... _fine_. Better than fine, even. In fact, one could go as far to say she had been sprightly, with a twinkle in her eye Kaidan hadn't seen since Emil had been around. He gave a sad smile at the memory, wondering what the ever polite, biotic dudebro would say if he were there. Before he could lose himself to his wistful imaginings, the swish of the med bay door awoke his senses. Looking up, he gave a kindly smile to the nervous Asari edging out into the Mess Hall. Spotting him, she bashfully returned the smile.

"You wouldn't happen to know where the Commander is, would you?"

Kaidan gave a small frown again. "She said she was running a special mission, recruiting for a buddy club or something." He shook his head, having long given up hope of fully understanding the enigmatic marine. "Actually," he said, her words ringing through his mind, "Shepard wanted the two of us to go shopping. Before Therum, the Normandy wasn't terribly well equipped for Asari and following the little-" he paused momentarily, searching for the right word. "-_mishap_ with the amphetamines, well, we want to correct that mistake. And seeing as I'm the requisition officer for perishables, the Commander thought it best for me to accompany you, so we can add whatever you need to the list."

"Plus," he added sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck. "Shepard's got a great deal of respect for you, and she's my friend." He shrugged. "I want to get to know you better."

Liara blushed slightly as she bowed her head in acquiesce. Humans were fast becoming her new favourite species. _So polite_. _Plus, if Lieutenant Alenko was Shepard's friend, perhaps he could shed some light on the topics the Commander had been slightly ore hesitant to discuss. _

"Very well, Lieu- _Kaidan_. I- uh- I'm ready when you are. Please, lead the way."

.

* * *

.

The Shooting Range was, for the most part, empty. Idly, Ash wondered if that was more down to visiting Spectre than the early hour. The animosity between the Council's law enforcement and their special operatives was the stuff of legend, which only made it more perplexing as to why the powers that be constantly forced them into operating so closely together. Not that the Gunnery Chief was complaining, of course. Here, in the deserted hallway, Williams could very nearly imagine she was on the Arc or some other Human outpost and as such, helped in regulating her nerves. It surprised her how much the Commander seemed to contrast Williams' behaviour; giving small smiles and nods of the head to everyone she passed, even stopping off to sign a small Turian child's photograph when prompted.

In between such interruptions, Shepard had talked idly, pointing out further quirks of the Prothean architecture in the Citadel or musing over the artificial weather patterns employed along the Presidium. Ashley had even forgotten their destination until they entered the quiet Range and took hold of their desired weapons. Donning their ear defenders, they linked comm. channels and took their places at the stations. They remained in a comfortable silence for a few minutes, the quiet only punctuated by the intermittent dull thud of their weapons' discharge. Allowing her rifle to cool down, it was Shepard who first spoke.

"So how you holding up Chief? I can't imagine Eden Prime was easy on you."

"Yeah," Ash agreed, a sigh escaping as she lowered her sniper. "It's just... I wish you'd gotten their sooner_- I mean_, no offense Ma'am, I appreciate the rescue, I just wish..."

"...That we'd been able to save the rest of your unit?" Shepard finished for her, a sympathetic edge to her voice.

"I-If I'd been more alert we wouldn't have been cut down by an ambush."

"The minute you start blaming yourself, they're already half way to winning, so don't. The Geth are perfect ambushers. They don't move, they don't make a noise- hell they don't even _breathe_."

"Well, yeah," Ash responded, flustered. "But they have flash lights for heads!"

Shepard shoulders slumped and her features flattened behind the partition that separated the pair. In her most neutral tone, she reprimanded the Chief.

"Y'know, aesthetically, Geth were created in the image of Quarians. I don't think Tali would take kindly to being informed of her '_flashlight head'_. I don't want an incident flaring up on my ship. "She waited a few seconds, the silence dragging out between them before she got a response.

"I-_Yes Ma'am_. Sorry Ma'am."

They lapsed into quiet once more. Shepard moved to get a sniper rifle of her own before Williams spoke up again.

"Hey, Commander? I- Do you buy Dr T'Soni's story? About her and her Mother not talking? I have a hard time believing that. I mean, _they're family_, right?"

Shepard gave a light snort.

"You wouldn't say that if you ever met her Mother." It hadn't taken more than a few seconds for Shepard and the Matriarch to take a disliking towards one another during their short passing meeting on Earth. She quickly shook the memory form her head. "At any rate, I trust her. I'm not demanding you do, but I at least need you to trust in me and my judgement." She waited for a moment before continuing in a slightly more light hearted tone. "Anyway, I don't think lying is exactly in her repertoire."

At this, Williams laughed, having to lower her rifle momentarily.

"Yeah, she's probably really bad at it. Hey, want me to ask about her sex life? Might be illuminating."

An odd flurry of emotions flared in Shepard. She felt her cheeks heat in embarrassment as a defensive anger welled. For someone so versed in fury, the oddity of this particular kind of anger struck the Human. After a second of contemplation, she concluded how ridiculous the notion of this righteous rage was and put it to one side for examination later. She forced levity into her voice and gave a half hearted chuckle.

"I wouldn't judge too harshly. Different species have different outlooks and opinions. And anyway, didn't you learn enough from that biology lesson back in the comm. room?" She felt relieved to hear Ash return the chuckle and continued in a softer, more diplomatic tone. "I don't think she's used to teasing, good natured or otherwise. I'd be careful how you word yourself around her. Tali too, for that matter. Neither of them are soldiers and Humanity's intimidating enough as it is without them spreading _more_ horror stories back home."

Ashley laughed again, her exaggerated pout even audible over the headset.

"No fun, Commander!"

Shepard smiled quietly to herself, satisfied.

_This talking jazz isn't half bad._

_._

* * *

_._

"So, Kaidan," Liara started, still slightly awkward over her use of his first name, as they strolled past the Embassies and toward the Markets. "What exactly is going on with this mission? I seem to have only picked up snippets of information, but not enough to form a full picture."

Kaidan's brow knit slightly as he kept pace beside her. "The Commander didn't tell you?"

"Oh, I believe we brushed the topic a few times but I find I tend to get sidetracked when talking to Shepard." She gave an embarrassed laugh as she blushed, directing her gaze toward the floor. Kaidan watched out the corner of his eye and smirked. _Dear god; messing with these two is going to be too easy. _He hid his smile with a contemplative nod.

"I hear you. Shepard tends to have that affect on a lot of people." Suppressing a grin at the petulant frown the flashed across the Asari's features, Kaidan continued, his voice becoming hushed and serious.

"Off the record? I think something's wrong here. This Saren guy is looking for records on this galactic extinction, and we don't get back up from the Council? Garrus was right; there's writing on the wall but nobody's willing to read it."

"Perhaps they are too scared? _Or too blind_." She added morosely. "Asari politics generally operates over centuries, which tend to make us appear slow and stubborn to most species. Shepard, however," she continued, her voice now laced with a quiet confidence. "Will get things done, with or without the Council's approval or guidance. I trust her implicitly and she has my utmost faith." Her face fell slightly, trouble painting her expression. "I do worry though. During our talk, she spoke a lot but said little. It's just- is she alright in the military?"

"Oh yeah," Kaidan replied, inwardly relieved that Liara shared his worries over Shepard. "She's always been a private person, even with Emil- _her old boyfriend_" he clarified upon seeing the mystified expression on the Asari's face before getting a far away glaze over his own. "She mostly kept to herself, shying away from the big questions. But on the whole, she seems to flourish in the Alliance."

Liara gave a small murmur of discontent. "It's strange. When we talked, she managed to remain exactly as she had a decade and a half ago, but at the same time, she's became a woman I hardly recognise." Her mind flitted back to the previous evening and Shepard's brushing off of the discussion revolving around the orphans she had sheltered from the streets. "The Shepard I knew, while not enamoured with Earth had several good reasons for staying. Did she ever tell you why she joined the Alliance?"

"A few times, vaguely," Kaidan said, contemplating the question. "Only when we got to the '_everyone's my bestest friend ever'_ portion of a drunken night out. I guess it's one reason that sort of drew us together. Both yearning with that Human urge to leave the homeland, venture where no one has ever dared and master the Final Frontier, y'know?"

Liara gave a small laugh, her eyes lighting up as the ascended the Market stairs.

"I have never heard anyone describe it quite like that before. I suppose space exploration has just become a common mundanity of the Asari way of life. It's quite romantic," she mused, idly imagining Shepard as some great explorer of foreign lands. "Like a dream, securing your future in the Great Unknown."

Kaidan gave an abashed chuckle. "Yeah, I guess I read a lot of those books as a kid; where the hero goes to space to prove himself worthy to his one true love."

Liara gave a near undetectable frown at that last comment_. Is he still talking about Shepard? I should hope not. _Kaidan ploughed on, unaware of the Asari's discomfort. "Maybe I was a little romantic in the beginning, But after they hauled us through Brain Camp-" He saw that same puzzled frown cross Liara's face. "Uh, sorry, '_Biotic Acclimation and Temperance Training'_. But after that and all that's happened? I'm not looking for the dream anymore. I just want to do some good. See what's out there."

Liara's brow quirked in surprise at the Lieutenant's remark.

"You have a school specifically built for biotics?" She let out a bemused laugh. "For Asari, that is part of the regular curriculum." She paused for a moment, mulling over the information, before another of his remarks caught her attention. "They '_hauled you through'_?"

Kaidan gave a slight grimace. "Yep. The full name didn't last past airlock. To everyone they hauled in, it was Brain Camp. Well," he considered his words. "'Hauled in' is probably unkind. See, Human's aren't natural biotics. We only get potential for such from accidental exposure to eezo. Most of the population still see us as _witches_ or _mutants_. Although," he countered himself. "As far as disabilities go, it's not bad. Beats the brain tumours and cancers some kids get saddled with. But since it isn't '_natural'_," he exaggerated his air quotes. "Most families jump at the chance to cart us of to some station on the edge of Human space. Out of sight, out of mind." He shook his head disparagingly.

Liara frowned at the statement, thinking. _Human children were no older than twenty. To be left alone at that age would be unthinkable for an Asari._ Liara herself was considered somewhat of an oddity for leaving home at the tender age of forty.

"That must have been a... _strange_ experience, spending so much time away from home as a child." She sympathised. In return Kaidan gave a sad smile and nod before shaking himself.

"Let's just say that the Grand Gateway to Humanity looks a lot better in the vids." He shook his head again, reprimanding himself. "Sorry, I'm not meant to be unloading on you like this. It's in the past."

With that, they entered the local Clinic, silent_. It was a good talk,_ Liara determined. _It was fascinating discovering how different species dealt with such things_. And, whether he was aware of it or not, the Lieutenant had imbued Liara with a lot of interesting information, not all of it sitting easy with the Asari.

_Still,_ she surmised. _It was certainly food for thought._

_._

* * *

_._

Sitting down, Gunnery Chief Williams plucked a kinetic coil from the rack and applied it to her rifle. Several feet away, she glanced up, watching as Shepard practiced her biotics on the targets, a soft sheen of sweat developing on the Commander's brow. After spending several minutes watching, trying to find the right words, Ash spoke up.

"Hey, Commander? I was kind of hoping to get a minute of your time, off the record..."

"Isn't that what we've been doing? I keep an open door policy, Chief. You have any concerns, please, lay them on me."

"All right," Ash stood up and walked over to her station and raised her rifle. "Well, I-I know things are different aboard the Normandy, but I'm concerned about the aliens. Vakarian and Wrex in particular. I mean, with all due respect, Commander, should they have full access to the ship?"

She waited, conscious of the pause in blue projectiles firing from the station to her right. She shied slightly, as if feeling the Commander's reprimanding gaze through the partition. Her words were soft and gentle, but edged with a firmness that brokered no argument.

"They may not serve the Alliance, Chief. But they're our allies, at least as far as Saren goes."

"I know, Ma'am," Ash replied, exasperated, hoping she could try and convince the Commander of her point of view. "It's just; this is the most advanced ship in the Alliance navy. I don't think we should be giving them free reign to poke around the vital systems. Y'know, engineering, sensors, weapons."

Shepard frowned at her reasoning. _The Chief clearly had an underlying issue she was unwilling to talk about. They would have to be coaxed out of her, which would mean allowing her to open up_. Which meant Shepard would have to open up. She glared down at her squirreling stomach, forcing the apprehension out of her mind and replacing it with a steady, if artificial calm. She spoke again, slipping her tone down to a more casual lilt.

"So you don't trust the Alliance's allies?"

Ash gave a soft snort. "I'm not sure I'd call the Council races 'allies'. We – _Humanity_ I mean, have to learn to rely on ourselves."

Shepard gave an almost inaudible huff. _Should probably keep her away from Pressley. _

"Standing up for ourselves doesn't mean standing alone."

"Oh, don't get me wrong, Ma'am, I don't think we should _turn down_ allies. I just don't think we should bet everything on them remaining allies. As noble as the Council appears now, when their backs are against the wall, they'll drop us like a stone."

Shepard's frown deepened further. Williams was most likely correct. It would be foolish of the Commander to put much faith in the Council. She was well aware of how politics worked, seeping into everything and clouding judgement with fear and unwarranted opinions. In her twelve years of service, she had seen several colleagues fall to the poison of backroom politics, discarded when they had served their purpose and left to fend for themselves under the harsh glare of the public opinion. Shepard was all but certain the only reason she was still in employment was due to her special 'bogeyman' status in the media, having ridden the storm through a multitude of incidents that, depending on who was asked, painted her as an angel or a demon of Humanity, suited for any task and resilient to most of the media glare. In the past, Shepard had cared very little for the Brass' true reasoning, content with being allowed to continue her work regardless of outside opinions, even if it had cost her the chance for any further career advancement. _Well, until last week, that was._ Now, she wasn't even technically Alliance.

Standing, she became aware of her continued silence as morose thoughts threatened to overcome her. She banished the feelings, unwilling to face them at this precise moment. Instead, she cleared her throat and affected a light, casual tone. She gave an amused tut.

"You've certainly got a pessimistic view of the universe there, Williams."

"A pessimist is just what an optimist calls a realist. Look, if you're fighting a bear and the only way for you is to sic your dog on it and run, you'll do it. As much as you love your dog, it isn't Human. Members of their species will always be more important to them than Humans are."

Shepard let her arms fall to her side as she stood, dumbstruck_. The Importance of Sentience in Defining Life_ seminar she had been forced to sit through after the Torfan Massacre ran through her mind as she clawed for words.

"I-Th-These seem like deeply held beliefs, Williams. What makes you think like that?" She could hear the shrug in Ash's voice as the Chief let off another volley of ammunition.

"My family's defended the Alliance since it was founded. My father, grandfather and great grandmother all picked up a rifle and swore the oath of service. I guess we just tend to think of Earth's interests as our own."

_Now we're getting somewhere_. Shepard let out a small sigh of relief as the conversation migrated to grounds she was more familiar with. Managing to slip in some of her characteristic casual nonchalance, Shepard resumed her training.

"Doesn't sound like you've worked with aliens before."

"No Ma'am. Mainly I've been groundside. Part of the surface garrison forces. I _did_ get a rotation on a space station for training. I _am_ zee gee certified if that's what you're worried about."

_That's odd._ Shepard's brow knit in confusion as she stepped back from the station and dabbed herself down with a towel. _Her record is spotless and the technical scores are exemplary. She should've been serving with the fleet years ago. _Not noticing Shepard's deep thought, Ash came up to join her, stretching the cramp out of her arms.

"Anyway, that's why I haven't served with many aliens Commander." Glancing at Shepard, Ash's eye caught the edges of a tattoo in her bicep, peeking from the sleeve of her shirt. "Is that- You were a _Red_, Ma'am?"

Caught off guard, Shepard's eyes flicked down to the tattoo as well, her eyebrows raised as if she too had just noticed it was there. Quickly collecting herself, she gave a small nod of her head before lifting the sleeve, baring the entire image.

"Yeah." She shrugged. "Was all I could do to get by as a kid. Although," She said, waving her finger at her fellow marine. "I'd like to point out that I left back when they were still just another bunch of drug cartel Mafioso wannabes. Y'know, before they got all racist and absorbed by Cerberus."

She sighed as she let her eyes drift up to Ash's. At her imploring gaze, Shepard froze momentarily. Normally, this would prove the awkward end to a conversation, with the Commander storming off to find something else to distract her. _Friends dammit, she's already told you stuff she didn't want to. _Giving another shrug, Shepard stalled, searching for the right words, unused to this unfamiliar territory.

"I-I never knew my family. Grew up an orphan on Earth." She gave a sad chuckle, noting how oddly invigorating it felt sharing even that simple sentence. Lifting her hand to scratch behind her neck, she continued.

"I didn't grow up on tales of mighty warriors and the paragons of Humanity. I just had what surrounded me. Turns out, the thugs and gangs that inhabit the slums, who'd take advantage of you first chance they get, don't exactly leave the best first impression of our species. First person who wasn't a total ass hat to me was L-" She paused, unwilling to share too much. _Baby steps, Shep."_-An alien." She shrugged, distracting from the last sentence. "Colours things, I guess." She shook her head. "Anyone in your family I'd have heard of?"

It was Ash's turn to shrug. "Couldn't say, Commander. So why are you out here? Just trying to get away from Earth or something?"

Alarm bells started ringing inside Shepard's head. _This isn't how it's meant to go. _Shutters started slamming in her mind, compelling her to flee and never return. Swallowing, she forced a calm in herself as she tried to eliminate all traces of trouble from her face. She gave small tilt of her head, feigning thought.

"I guess so. I mean, the future of Humanity is out here. There's galaxies and planets and moons out there, just waiting to be seen and explored, Y'know?"

"Yeah," The Chief replied, a small smile on her face as they drifted back to the weapon station, selecting a new load out. "Still remember my first field exercise on Titan. When we hit the mud, the reality hit me; _I'm the first person who's ever stood here. _Then my drill instructor kicked me in the ass, sending my flying head first into the mud. He spent the next five minutes chewing me out for gold bricking."

She let out a small bark of laughter at the phrase as it triggered something in her mind. She turned to the Chief, her eyes lit up as a wry grin spread across her face.

"_Don't tell me you had Gunny Ellison_?" At the laughter she got in reply, she continued, a wistful smile dancing across her features. "Caught me and my, uh, boyfriend... in the act of some '_debauched philandering_' as he put it, had us cleaning the latrines with toothbrushes for a month. At least I didn't use mine." Her smile faded to a worried frown. "At least I hope I didn't. They all looked the same and the plastic does have funny smell..."

Ash burst into a hearty laugh in front of her, warming the Commander, as a single tear tracked its way down the Chief's face.

"Dear lord! You went to Macapá Boot too? Ellison's still there, still reaming out recruits like always. Kicking ass and using words like _inveigle_ and _pusillanimous_." She wiped at her face as Shepard gave a small chuckle, patting her on the shoulder, a slight seriousness edging into her voice.

"Well, Chief, regarding your concerns, I understand where you're coming from. But this is a multi-lateral mission. You're going to have to work with aliens, like it or not."

"Yeah, yeah," Williams agreed, still calming down from her mirth. "It won't be a problem, Commander. You say jump, I say how high. You tell me to kiss a Turian, I'll ask which cheek."

"Well, I don't think kissing Turians will be necessary."

Before the Gunnery Chief had a chance to respond, they were interrupted by flanged, teasing tones coming through the door.

"Oh, Commander, you're spoiling all the fun."

Shepard beamed at Garrus, who joined the pair at the Armoury. As he turned to choose his weapon, Shepard shot Ash a gently chiding look as she ever so slightly tensed at the Turian's presence. Seeing the Commander's stare, she collected herself, forcing her body to relax. With a determined nod and shaky smile, she sidled up alongside Garrus, choosing yet another sniper rifle, this time with a larger barrel and returned to her station.

.

* * *

.

Medical Supplies ordered, Kaidan had insisted on treating Liara to a spot of lunch on the Presidium. It had been decided. Humanity was most certainly her most favourite species of all time. Not one for large crowds and mingling, it surprised the Asari how much she enjoyed the simple act of walking and talking, even if they walked aimlessly and discussed nought but the most trivial of matters. She couldn't wait to share this with Shepard. Not that Lieutenant Alenko wasn't pleasant and accommodating of course, he just suffered from the fact that he wasn't Alex. A trait that, over the years Liara had discovered, usually when succeeding in the feat of simultaneously being in a crowd and feeling completely alone, that quite a few people were afflicted by.

So lost in the pleasantness of the experience, Liara barely registered the elegant figure gliding towards them, and a disgustingly self satisfied smirk stretched across her face.

"Well if it isn't our _Little Wing_?" the figure teased, lips rolling over every syllable. At Liara's side, Kaidan bristled, his hand flexing near the pistol on his hip. With terror striking her to her very core, Liara was dimly surprised at the steady lilt maintained in her voice.

"Spectre Vasir."

"Lady T'So- No wait, it's _Doctor_ now, isn't it?" Her smirk widened into a wolfish grin. "I'm surprised to see you showing face around here. Especially after yesterday."

Liara's mind raced with possibilities. _Is this another of Mother's doings? Had she effectively exiled us from Civilised space? No- no, Matron Tela would never be so disrespectful to Mother, especially after she had aided the Matron in acquiring her Spectreship. But... then what? _ Upon seeing the confusion painted across the younger Asari's face, overbearing smug positively oozed out of the Spectre's every orifice.

"Don't tell me you had nothing to do with the ahh, _dressing down_ the Council received yesterday?" She shot Liara a knowing look. What she thought she knew, Liara hadn't the foggiest idea. Already growing bored of the conversation, Vasir's gaze drifted up and down Kaidan, who gave a small shiver as he felt her undress him ever so slowly with her eyes, murmuring. "You certainly have a way of charming them, Little Wing." She glanced back to Liara. "I shall leave you to your..." Her eyes bore into Kaidan's with far more raw lust than he was comfortable with. "..._humans_. Good day."

With that, the Spectre was gone, striding purposefully past them, cleaving a small path in her wake. Liara could only watch her go, utterly dumbfounded.

"What?" her eyes narrowed in puzzlement, before turning to Alenko. "Council?"

Clearing his throat, he turned back to Liara before continuing to walk.

"Uhh, yesterday. The Council contacted Shepard for a mission debrief after we collected you. They demanded we bring you in for interrogation, convinced you were in cahoots with Saren and the Matriarch-"

"_But I am not-!"_

"Yeah, we know, we trust you." Kaidan hurried, placating the worried Asari. "But the Council apparently don't. You should have heard the angry rollicking Shepard gave them when they suggested handing you over. Actually, I'm surprised you didn't. She was echoing around the ship. I was down in cargo, talking to Wrex and even we heard her growling down the elevator shaft."

He gave a glee filled laugh. "Had a buddy of mine, works for C-Sec, was patrolling the Council Chamber during the debrief. Said the balconies were full of people coming out their offices, silent, listening as the Commander tore the Council a new one. Best bit he said was when she chewed out the Asari, _Tevos_, is it? – When she brought up you and your Mom. Yelling about being prejudiced against blood or something. Says he's never seen anyone looked so cowed and embarrassed in his life. Wish I could have been there."

Entering their chosen restaurant, Liara couldn't help but feel warmed and slightly amused at the image of the Commander jumping to her defence with such fervour. She frowned slightly. Shepard was dominating far too much of her thoughts lately. Liara couldn't recall having ever mused over someone as much as she did the Commander. With their food ordered, Liara found her mind wandering to the topic again. Specifically something the Lieutenant had said in passing a few hours before. She was driving herself insane with the small tid bit of information, but struggled to find a way to bring the subject up without drawing attention to her thoughts on the Commander.

"So. Y-you mentioned that Shepard has a-a... _boyfriend_? What are Human mating rituals like?" _Oh that was superb Liara,_ she berated herself internally. _This is why I don't talk to people. _Kaidan's mouth quirked at the question.

"_Had_. Past tense. As far as dating goes," He glanced out, around the room as if looking for inspiration. "Boy meets Girl or any variation thereof; they decide to go for relationship. Sometimes they might decide to get married. Sometimes they don't. Same with kids." He shrugged, his brow furrowing. "Forgive me if I'm speaking out of line, but aren't Asari generally well versed in this kind of thing?"

"Well, _yes_." Liara replied, slightly flustered. "But Humans are new species and I had already left school before they began teaching that course."

"Alright, I hear ya." He nodded, taking pity on the Asari. They lapsed into silence, Liara with her head bowed, fiddling with her tunic as Kaidan watched her, quietly betting against himself when she would pluck up the courage to ask about the Commander directly. Eventually, she glanced up and he averted his eyes, pretending to have been idly watching the other tables in the room.

"S-So, how does being dual gendered affect such practices in Humans?"

Kaidan concealed his small snort of laughter. She was homing in, slowly but surely. His eyes narrowed as he contemplated the question.

"I-I don't know quite what you mean."

Liara squirmed a little in her seat, her own brow knitting as she struggled to better phrase a question that would only give her half the answer she wanted.

"For example, Krogan female as a rule, do not leave the Krogan Demilitarised Zone and as such, only breed with males of their species. While males _do_ leave their home planet, very few choose to pursue a relationship out with their species, instead preferring to make a sort of pilgrimage back to Tuchanka every so often to submit and answer breeding requests. Also, Salarians, lacking the form of desire the rest of the Galaxy share, also rarely breed outside their species. With the high cost of breeding contracts, most female see little need in forming such bonds with people who are incapable of fulfilling such a contract. Male Salarian romances are not unheard of, but their lifespan tends to dissuade many from following such a route."

Kaidan mulled the information over in his head as he formulated his answer.

"Well, I know a lot of males who take a great interest in Asari, but I've never actually met someone who's entered into a committed relationship with one. On the whole though, outside of Fornax, Humanity tends to keep to itself. Usually it's one guy, one girl. But, uh... if there's one thing to be said about Humanity, we're..." He let out a small laugh "..._flexible_." Shaking his head, sobering slightly, he continued.

"Anyway, appearances are just one facet of it. Personality plays a big part, too. _Types_, y'know?"

"_Types_?" Liara repeated, not understanding.

"Types. Like who a person is, what they do, how they think."

"S-So, what would be your type?" The Asari asked, her brow still knit.

Kaidan reclined in his chair, his eyes narrowing and lips pouting as he thought.

"I like... Someone who's smart, funny, adventurous, not afraid to stand up for what they believe in, or _who_, for the matter. Someone with convictions." He leaned forward conspiratorially, a playful grin spreading across his features. "Also, got to admit, I'm a bit of an _ass man_, if you catch my drift."

Liara smiled for a moment. _Certainly describes..._

"Your type is Commander Shepard?"

Kaidan snorted into his water, laughing gently while he dabbed his chin.

"No! No, she's uhh, she's not my type."

The Asari frowned_. That sounds exactly like Shepard. She is all of those things. And her posterior... it goes without saying. Unless he doesn't think she qualifies for those descriptors. But I don't see how._

"Have you ever met anyone who _was_ your type, then?"

"Once." He glanced down at his water, a pained smile on his face. "But, uhh, turned out I wasn't _his_ type." His eyes flicked back up, a gentle glimmer in them. "It'll happen one day, though. I'll find the right person. Just need to give it time."

Liara gave a sympathetic nod as she idly traced the rim of her glass with her finger, deep in thought. Her brow furrowed slightly. _Silly Humans with silly types._ She sighed. _What would Shepard's type be? _She cleared her throat as their meals were served. Thanking the waiter, Liara spoke, masking the worry in her voice with a casual tone.

"So, what was Shepard's... _partner_ like?"

"Oh, Emil was great!" Kaidan's face shone, the wistful smile coming back full force. "We were buddies since way back in Brain Camp. I met Shepard through him, actually." His voice quietened, with a serious edge developing. "He was amazing. Dark hair, these honey-brown eyes that you wouldn't think were possible unless you'd seen them. He was brave, intelligent and confident in himself; always standing up for the little guy. He always knew when to laugh and when to rein things in." His face fell, eyes staring intently at his food. "He was good for her, kept Shepard grounded. After he- well, when..." he gave up on the sentence, shrugging. "Shepard and I were lucky to be there for one another after he was gone."

"H-how did he leave?" Liara queried, painfully aware she was treading on delicate ground. Examining the Lieutenant's features, the Asari was surprised to see that, Kaidan looked deeply conflicted.

On the one hand, it was proving incredibly therapeutic, talking to Liara. For the first time in a while, the marine found it relieving to unload on the Asari, without fear of reprisal, to finally get his thoughts out in the open. On the other hand, Kaidan was wary of over stepping his boundaries. Shepard had proven a life line for him over the years and became arguably his dearest friend. He was also aware that she tended to be far more cagey around such topics than he was. If he let something slip that would upset or cause stress for the Commander, Kaidan wasn't sure how he could live with himself. Shepard had been kind enough to be his secret keeper and in ten years, she remained the only living soul to know facts about the Lieutenant, that if they became common knowledge, he genuinely thought might break him. So it was at the very least fair that he offered Shepard the same respects, out of chivalry if nothing else.

He gave an audible sniff and leaned back in his chair once more, fixing a gentle, if forced smile onto his face. He waved his hand dismissively.

"Just... stuff happens, y'know? I wouldn't worry about it. It's in the past. S'all that matters."

Searching the room, he quickly motioned over a waiter.

"Hey, you got any Canadian lager?"

.

* * *

.

Ash remained mostly silent while Shepard conversed with Garrus, content with listening in on their chatter as she tweaked her weapons, finding the sweet spot with her modifications. Quietly, she was glad that Shepard quickly shot down the Turian's hopes of Batmanning across the Galaxy and arguing with him that rules and regulations were more than just red tape. For his part, Vakarian took it well, falling into line when it became apparent the Commander would not be swayed.

"So, if you hate it so much, why did you join C-Sec in the first place?"

A raspy chuckle filtered through the headset. "Good question. There were several reasons I guess. Probably the same as most officers. I wanted to fight injustice, help people. I guess my father had something to do with it, too. He was an officer, back in his day. One of the best, even. I grew up on the stories of his accomplishments or seeing his picture on the vids after a big arrest. He, uhh," Williams could swear she heard a blush in his voice. "He's taking my '_extended leave'_ pretty hard."

Shepard gave an understanding grunt. "It's tough. But you'd think he'd be impressed you're going after Saren and everything."

"Ha! Nah, my old man's C-Sec to the bone. '_Do things right or don't do them at all!'_. Thinks I'm being too rash. Too impatient. Worried I'll become just like Saren. He actually talked me out of becoming a Spectre when I was younger for the same reasons."

This caught Ash by surprise, so much so, she hadn't realised she had spoken until the words had tumbled out of her mouth.

"You were asked to be a Spectre?"

"Well, I was targeted along with another thousand military recruits." He replied, bashful. Despite herself, Ash found a smile creeping up her face. "I could've received special training but my father didn't like it. He despises Spectres. Hates the idea of someone having unlimited power with no accountability. No offence, but I don't think he'd be too fond of the Normandy crew."

"I suppose I can understand his concern." Shepard replied, almost flippant as she shipped her weaponry and collected her things, ready to leave.

"_You can_?" Garrus sounded as surprised as Williams felt. According to the Networks, Shepard cared little for laws that stood in her way, her unpredictable approach to missions one of her greatest assets. "But Saren's not going to play by the rules, ours or C-Sec's . If you want to nail Saren, you need to send in someone who isn't restricted by policies and procedures."

Standing in front of the exit, Shepard spun round, meeting the taller Turian's eyes. "Just because we can break the rules doesn't mean we should. I don't need to stoop to Saren's level to stop him. And neither do you, Garrus."

"I-I see what you mean, but... I'll think about it."

Exiting the Range, Garrus and Shepard strolled through the Academy side by side. Ashley lingered a few steps behind, thinking. _If you ignored his species, he was just a guy trying to do his best, who sometimes locked horns with his Dad_. She could relate. Hell, he was like a gender swapped version of her. She gave a small grin and shake of her head.

_If only Gramps could see me now_.

.

* * *

.

Sitting at the Mess Table on the Normandy, Liara nursed the warm mug of tea in her hand, watching rapt as Kaidan tinkered with her Omnitool, integrating it into the Normandy's systems. She glanced up at the light hearted arguing that echoed through the Upper levels, growing louder as the combatants made their way down the stairs to the lower deck. Leaning to catch a peek, the Asari watched as Shepard waved off a bickering Vakarian and Williams, as they took their discussion into the lift, eventually muffled by the closing of the door. Joining Liara and Kaidan, Shepard threw herself into the chair at the head of the table, between the pair and gave a dramatic sigh.

Not looking up from his work, Kaidan greeted the Commander, mirth evident in his tone.

"_Soooo_, how did today go?"

"It went _fantastic_, Lieutenant." Shepard replied, her smug lop sided grin making an appearance on her face. Turning to Liara, she raised multiple fingers as she beamed with pride.

"I have laid the foundations for _three_, count 'em, future kick ass friendships. So you," she flicked Kaidan gently on the temple "Can stick that in your pipe and smoke it. From this day forth, I am officially the people-iest of all persons, ever."

Finally looking up, Kaidan gazed off into the distance, his eyes narrowed as he counted off the list.

"So that was Williams and Vakarian who went into the elevator and I got your message telling me to stock up on Quarian friendly booze, so Tali? What about Wrex? You're not fond of the walking couch?"

Shepard shook her head, tone slipping into a slightly more serious lilt. "No, he's not much of talker. I'll only win him round with my action on the field. Show him how cool and amazing and all-round brilliant I am." Her grin returned full force. Kaidan merely snorted.

"Y'know, on your gravestone, it's gonna read '_Here lies Shepard, choked on her hubris and collapsed under the weight of her own ego_'."

"Pffft." Shepard reclined in her seat and glanced to Liara again, that delightfully insufferable smirk not budging an inch. "It's not 'ego' if I'm just stating facts."

Met with such a dazzling gaze, Liara couldn't help flash a grin of her own, cursing the butterflies that erupted in her stomach. _Quick, change the subject before you embarrass yourself. Again._

"So how did it go with Officer Vakarian and Gunnery Chief Williams?"

Shepard's face fell into a comical pout as she rolled her eyes and shook her head, causing Liara to snort softly.

"They didn't stop squabbling all the way up that elevator ride. _Do either of you know how long that is? _I was this close-" She made an infinitesimal space between her finger and thumb, waving in front of Liara's face. "-_This close_ to hitting the _Emergency Stop_ button and climbing my way back to the ship."

"But Commander, isn't it several miles from the Academy to the Docking Bay?"

"An acceptable forfeit if it meant I wouldn't have to hear how much more powerful a Volkov was or how much better a Harpoon is because of its lower recoil. And don't even get me started on choosing a scram rail over a heat sink..."

It was Kaidan's turn to snort. "Not one for details then, Commander?"

"Hey," she raised her hands in defence. "I shoot things, they explode. That's good enough for me."

"What if your gun breaks?"

"Then I'll talk 'em down. And when words fail, there's always fists." She brought her hands forward, wiggling her fingers at the Lieutenant, sending a biotic pulse vibrating through them. He dragged his eyes up, scoffing at her and shook his head. Dismissing Alenko's look, Shepard gave a little huff, examining her fingers with a lurid pride in her voice.

"I don't care what you think. Let's just say that _I_ am very dexterous and can be _extremely_ _persuasive_ when the mood takes me..."

She gave a wry grin, her eyes flitting over to Liara. Their gaze remained locked for a moment, before Shepard realised who she was looking at and quickly slammed her hands, palms down on the table as her eyes widened in horror. As quickly as the terror appeared, it was gone, replaced by a nervous grin as her skin flushed beetroot. Liara could only look on at the Commander, her brow furrowed and eyes narrowed as utter confusion etched itself across her features, glancing between the two marines, desperate for an answer.

"I-I believe I am missing out on something?"


	7. Bot, Mako, Shepard

**AN – **I'm not dead! Unfortunately, life decided it had enough of my uppity attitude and punched me in the face. I've been saddled with a ton of coursework this year and work is busy, leaving me with roughly five seconds of downtime in the past week. It's going to continue like this until December so any semblance of an update schedule is now little more than a distant dream. Rest assured I am working on this though and they will come. However slow.  
- Related to that, I've got into the terrible habit of writing bits of stories and leaving them. So I've actually done more work than you'd think, I'm just terrible at showing it. So sorry for that.  
-One thing I've neglected recently is to thank y'all for the reviews. They mean a lot to me and I'm truly thankful you take the time to write them. Also, once again, don't be afriad to call me out if I've cocked up or something isn't quite right. :)  
- Also, during my casual creeping on a certain 'meme, I stumbled across someone who suggested FLA for a read. And so to that anon I say; _I love YOU, random citizen!_ *finger point*

.

.

* * *

**2183 CE -** Attican Beta / Theseus System / Feros Orbit  
**SSV Normandy**

"_Commander Shepard. My name is Nassana Dantius. I have a job for you. I can't say mo-"_

With a flourish of her hand, Shepard deleted the message, dismissing it. _I'm no lapdog. If she wanted help that badly, she could do a little better than leaving a ruddy voicemail._ Leaning on the thin rail of her podium, the Commander gave a weary sigh, her eyes glazing over the Galaxy Map in front of her. She wasn't looking forward to docking and taking yet another blind step into unknown territory. _We seem to be doing that a lot of late_. Rubbing her hands over her face Shepard turned and made her way to her locker in order to suit up.

_Still,_ the voice in her head mused, _given the alternative, you can't really complain, can you? _Shepard gave a small grumble of agreement. Given the choice between Feros and Noveria, the Commander had jumped at the chance to put off her meeting with Matriarch Benezia. Regardless of her own opinions of the Asari, she had only heard shining endorsements from everyone who spoke of her. She was apparently many things, but stupid was certainly not among them. The Matriarch clearly had reasons for her actions and alliance with Saren and secretly, Shepard was terrified of how convincing they'd be.

Saren, for his part, was rotten to the core and as a by product, poisoned everyone who stood by him. But if he managed to convince a thousand year old Asari Matriarch, what chance did one morally questionable Human, not yet in her third decade of living have of persuading people otherwise? With careful planning, Shepard knew she could keep hold of most of her squad but Liara's reaction to meeting her mother was anything but certain. Shepard couldn't lose the young Maiden, not now. She shook her head, dispelling the morose thoughts, instead focusing on the crackling voice up ahead.

"_-ank you for flying Joker Airways, please make sure no luggage is left unattended as you exit the cabin in an orderly fashion. We hope you enjoy your stay."_

_._

* * *

_._

The seven-strong squad stalked swiftly through the eerily silent tunnels, causing the hairs on Shepard's neck to prickle apprehensively. Corner after corner, shadow after shadow, everything was swept with utmost proficiency with nary a spider to be found. Exiting out into a ghost town, the Commander let out a groan of frustration. Hesitantly, Garrus approached the marine, his sharp eyes continuing to survey for any hint of movement.

"We're not too late, are we?"

"No," Tali moved to join the pair at the head of the squad. "I'm getting life signs from these buildings." She motioned to the shuttered prefabs surrounding them. "I guess they're not too fond of visitors-"

Before anyone had the chance to respond, a bark of gun fire cut through the air and before she realised, Shepard and the crew were thundering to the source of the noise, weapons drawn and ready for action.

Whipping around the corner, Shepard slid into place behind a makeshift barrier, next to a rather haggard looking man, his eyes trained on a nearby archway with utmost trepidation. Shepard opened her mouth to speak, only to be silenced by the clipped tones of a woman to her left.

"_Bit late, aren't you!?"_

"Arcelia!" The man reprimanded her, before flicking his gaze down to the Commander. "Sorry, everyone's been on edge since-"

"Geth on the move!"

The squad flinched as a shadow shuddered overhead. Glancing up, Shepard watched as the giant Geth construct floated away, latching and rooting itself onto a building in the distance. The party remained silent for another minute, until it was absolutely clear they were alone.

"Commander? Thank god the Alliance finally sent someone. Fai Dan," He gave a curt nod but did not extend a hand. "I'm the leader of this colony. This here is Arcelia, my number two." The man gestured to his associate, who only gave a disapproving snort in recognition of the Commander.

"Yeah, _now_ they come, when there's _Geth_."

Shepard frowned at Arcelia with genuine confusion. "Why else would we come?" Shepard waved her hand dismissively, not seeing the stuttering expression that swarmed the woman's face at the question. Behind her, Kaidan and Ashley shared a glance. "Actually, we're here for the Geth, but why are _they_ here?"

Fai Dan flustered, shrugging his shoulders fervently. "Th-They came here and they attacked us. _That's all we know."_

Shepard's features flattened at the man's eccentricities. She didn't know if it came from being an Earther, but Colony kids always came across as overtly quirky. Normally such behaviour would amuse her, offering colour in an otherwise drab and grey environment. Right now however, with the Geth breathing down their neck for heaven knows what reason, she struggled to appreciate Fai Dan's peculiarities.

"Look, help me find the Geth and what they want and I promise you, I'll get us all out of here alive."

"_Well_, _we don't know what they want_," Arcelia butted in warningly. Shepard stared her down, unimpressed by the posturing. After several seconds, the woman cowed, averting her gaze and calming her tone. She sighed.

"Exo Geni, the people funding this, they're labs are at the other end of the skyway, that building where that ship suckered on. But, uh... there happens to be an army Geth between here and there."

Shepard gave an amused snort. "Wouldn't want to make it too easy, now, would we?" She was about to raise her hand to her ear bud when Fai Dan spoke again.

"A-actually, Commander, now that you're here, and I know this _isn't_ what you're here for, but could you help us get this place up and running again? We could use the man power."

Shepard nodded as she turned to communicate with the Normandy.

"Joker? We're coming back for the Mako, get that cargo bay door open and send some supplies down with it. Be there in five."

Turning on her heel, she faced her squad with hands on hips, a confident smile on her face.

"So, who wants to go for a little drive?"

As one, the majority of the squad took a step back, leaving Liara glancing around, puzzled at her sudden abandonment. Shepard's smile dropped into a petulant scowl.

"Oh, _come on_!"

.

* * *

.

Kaidan wasn't one to take pride in specieism. Not that he wasn't proud of his heritage or unashamed to proudly call himself Human, of course. He had long ago come to the conclusion that everyone, regardless of their outer packaging, came with their own sets of fortes and foibles. For now, however, following the Commander's plans to broach peace and build bridges with the community, he was glad his being human had paid off. Not wanting to cause further distress to the oddly jittery locals, Shepard had ordered her two human crew members to remain behind and aid the community with Wrex keeping at a safe distance, patrolling the perimeters for any further threats.

He felt bad for his three remaining squad mates, who had been dragged along on Shepard's little adventure, but not enough to interfere with his mirth at their grumblings. Instead, he was here in the small settlement, assisting Dr Chakwas with the inhabitants' odd set of uniform illnesses. While some needed treatment for the odd Geth rifle grazing or injured limb, the only thing wrong with these dehydrated and malnourished people was the prevalence of headaches and upset stomachs. Kaidan had offered the idea that they were no more than symptoms of their recent emaciated lifestyle which Chakwas accepted, albeit grudgingly.

Entering the next patient's room, Kaidan's brow furrowed. The woman lying on the cot was definitely sick. With a gaunt face, hollow eyes and dangerously sallow skin, however, it didn't take a Doctor to determine she was worse than the others. It took the Lieutenant an extra second or two to pick up the faint intonations of her voice, muttering and mumbling while her tense and twitching husband stroked her hand. Looking up at the marine, he regarded him through narrowed, suspicious eyes before he spoke, his voice defensive against non-existent accusations.

"Th-This is my wife, Calantha. She's not right in the mind. _Just needs to relax and accept what's happened."_

Kaidan remained quiet as he approached, looking over the woman with a sympathetic expression. His brow furrowed slightly. He had seen what stress and shock could do to people and had no doubt that the Geth had brought more than enough of both for everyone. But only so much of that could be blamed for this woman's current condition. He mulled over the man's words in his head. _Accept what happened?_ He tilted the woman's head, feeling a weak pulse in her neck. _It was certainly an odd choice of words and an uncomfortably cavalier attitude to the current invasion._

"So what _did_ happen, I mean, apart from the Geth? No one here's exactly the picture of health. Someone spike your water supplies or something?"

"_No_! There hasn't been any fresh water for a week. You'd know that if you were paying attention! It's just-" The man let out a shuddering breath as he collected himself, forcing a strained calm into his voice. "Ask Fai Dan."

Activating the medical scanner on his Omnitool, Kaidan's brow knit slightly as he attempted to keep his tone casual. "Why can't you tell me?"

"Because Fai Dan is our leader. He knows all."

Kaidan struggled to keep his annoyed grunt under control.

"Just wondered why Geth would attack he-"

"_Why would we know?_ We just wanted to build a new home. A new life."

Kaidan raised his hands in defeat, unwilling to cause any sort of incident. Clearly the man was unwilling to share. As he raised the Omnitool over her face, the woman cracked her eyes open, meeting Kaidan's gaze. It took her a moment to speak, her voice hoarse and dry.

"H-Hello, Off-Worlder. Glad to see we aren't totally forgotten by the rest of the Galaxy."

"Dear," the man interrupted, raising his hand in between Kaidan and the woman, his nervous eyes flicking momentarily over the marine. "Try to rest. You're not ready to speak."

"But they should know!" She weakly grabbed at the man's sleeve, staring up at him with desperation. "I-I mean, they are very important. It has seen them. What they are, what they will do!"

Kaidan watched the scene unfold in front of him apprehensively, having stumbled upon something far greater than he had first thought. He interjected, trying to ease himself back into the conversation.

"I- Ma'am, is there anything we can do for you?"

"_No_!" The man growled, looking up at the marine with wild eyes. "She'll be fine. _We'll be fine_. She just has some lingering pain. She hit her head pretty hard. Her mind's a little fuzzy. Just give her time to think."

_Well that's a lie. She has absolutely no outstanding injuries. _Kaidan groaned as he stood up, backing away from the pair as casually as possible. With nothing more than a nod, he left, immediately activating the comm. unit in his ear.

"Ash? The civilians aren't acting a little strange with you, are they?"

He heard a crackled snort over the unit.

"Little Strange? These guys are goddamn Froot loops. I was down in the tunnels, half way through activating one of the water pumps, and out of nowhere, this Reynolds guy jumps out and starts screaming about '_the end'_ and how I should '_leave him to his pain and his masters'_. If these are the people who passed the screening process to go off world, I hate to think what kind of people they rejected." He heard a shudder in her voice. As he gave a small laugh, they were joined by a third, grumbly voice.

"Even by Human standards, these pyjaks are far too flighty and nervous. How you managed to scrape a victory against the Turians, I'll never know. They need to grow a quad."

"Aww, c'mon Wrex," Ash voice responded, tickled with mirth. "Maybe they just saw yours and got scared."

Kaidan heard a throaty chuckle and noted how there wasn't any clear denial in the reply. "Perhaps. But I know the smell of fear. These people do not possess it. They're hiding something. I don't like it."

The Humans gave grumbled groans of agreement.

"_Amen to that."_

_._

* * *

_._

Walking through the garage, Shepard and her squad stepped aboard the Mako, Garrus and Tali making a bee line for the reinforced hold in the back, saddling Liara with the co-pilot's seat.

Securing her seatbelt, Liara gave a sigh as she re-evaluated the path her life had taken the past week.

"Now, off to the Geth Base." Her brow knit slightly. "Admittedly not something I'd thought I'd ever say." She felt the squirreling in her gut intensify at the thought of what they were about to face. "I did not sign up for this."

To her left, Shepard snorted.

"Technically, you didn't sign up for anything. As far as the Council's concerned, I've kidnapped you and am currently holding you at a high ransom. According to Tevos, the Matriarchy would already have a hit out on me if I wasn't a Spectre."

Behind the pair, Liara heard Garrus gave a dark chuckle.

"How did your little phone call with them go, by the way? I couldn't quite make out what was being said over your incandescent rage."

"Well," Shepard said, tilting her head and faking barely concealed humility, "Sparatus still has a ten foot stick up his ass, Valern is as pissy as ever. Oh! But Tevos apologised after an old friend of mine, Emily Wong, threatened to release a rather telling exposé on her. So there's that."

"You know Wong? Spirits," Garrus leaned back in his chair as shook his head gently. "My old unit hated her. Always snooping around Traffic Control. Giant pain in the back side when we were trying to do our job."

"Oh." Shepard at least had the decency to blush as she shot Liara a sideways glance, a giant grin painted across her face. "Some of that was probably my fault. Sorry."

"Shepard," the filtered tones of the resident Quarian entered the conversation. "Do you make it a habit of getting into trouble?"

"Nah," Shepard replied, glancing back into the hold as she continued to steer with only one hand, causing Liara's stomach to somersault, painfully aware of just how high up they were on the narrow skyway. "It's all theatrics Tali. Council loves it, probably brightens there day. If I really pissed them off, they'd do something about it. As for C-Sec, that's just fun." Her grin widened. "All the world's a..." She glanced up at the shadow that had fallen over the vehicle, her eyes glued to the giant Geth ship as it floated up ahead."...stage."

The quartet watched in silence as several metal boxes fell from the ship, quickly transforming into the more familiar Geth Armatures. Garrus was the first to regain his senses, whipping up to the machine gun. Shepard was awoken by his loud growls and curses.

"Damn things not warmed up!" He ducked back down to the hold, sharp eyes searching the Commander's face frantically. "They'll tear us apart!"

Shepard's dumbstruck features slowly melted into a scowl as she eyeballed the synthetic constructs, her hand casually moving down to the gear lever.

"Garrus, please take your seat."

"Shepard, what ar-"

"Garrus, _take your seat_. I'm going to count to three and I highly recommend that by the time I finish, _You. Are in. Your seat_."

Needing no further encouragement, Garrus quickly took his position, buckling the belts as fast as his talons could manage as Shepard counted down, revving the Mako's engine, a dangerous smirk playing across her face.

"_Three_."

The Mako shot forward at a pace, gathering more speed with each passing second. Gripping onto the dashboard with all her worldly might, Liara barely registered Tali's frantic tones from behind.

"Keelah, Shepard! What in the Maker's name are you doing!?"

The Commander responded, her voice dangerously calm. "You ever heard of Rock, Paper, Scissors? Well in my game, there is no paper, Rock is a tank and Geth are scissors. Guess what? Rock beats Scissors. _Every_. _Time_."

Garrus whined from beside the Quarian, yelling over the roar of the engine.

"WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN!?"

Before Liara could ponder upon it, the Mako grazed a fallen piece of rubble, sending it careening through the air, crushing one Armature with its rear wheels as it landed and clipping another with the bonnet, sending it grinding painfully up and over the vehicle. Screeching the brakes, Shepard threw the Mako in reverse, making sure to crush the Geth into its component parts. The inside of the Mako was as silent as the exterior, as the squad collected their breath. _Two down._

"Sh-Shepard." Liara spoke quietly, nervous. "I counted three Geth landing."

The Commander's eyes shot up to her, the dopey grin on her face fading. As if to answer the Asari's unasked question; a loud clang of metal on metal reverberated around the cabin, as the back right of the Mako's hull buckled and bent slightly. Slamming the vehicle into first gear, Shepard attempted to power away. The Geth, however, had other ideas, resulting in the windscreen fogging over with tire smoke as the metal behind them continued to groan.

Activating the Grav boosters, the vehicle lurched forward, slackening the remaining Armature's grip momentarily. The Geth managed to clip the newly sprang Mako, however, forcing the vehicle into an immediate tail spin. Now faced with the Armature, Shepard chose to reverse away from its slowly advancing body. Unwilling to take her eyes of the contraption, Shepard merely tilted her head slightly in Liara's direction.

"See that big red button right in the middle?" Liara glanced down and sure enough, among the morass of intricate switches, stood a proud gleaming button, as if daring any occupant to press it. She swallowed. "Be a dear and activate it, would you?"

Gingerly reaching out and brushing against the button, Liara instantly recoiled as a shuddered explosion rocked the Mako, two rockets shooting from its cannons. Finding their target, they cleaved a hole in the hull of the Armature. However, instead of crippling the thing, the Geth was instead compelled to break out in a gallop towards the vehicle. Slamming into high speed reverse, Shepard continued to bellow.

"Again!"

Another explosion, causing the vehicle to lurch violently from side to side as it continued its backwards jaunt.

"Again!"

Another five second interval. Despite their best efforts and monster fire power from the missiles, the Armature was quickly closing the gap, its front pincers managing to clip the bumper of the Mako.

"Again!"

The last shot was too close, exploding mere inches in front of the vehicle, sending the Mako somersaulting backwards through the air. Hitting the Grav boosters, Shepard rode out the shockwave, only to have the vehicle land on its side, rolling away from the newly minted Geth corpse. The crew braced themselves as they continued to tumble, Shepard intermittently activating the boosters to ease their descent.

Finally coming to a shaky stop, it took Liara several seconds to realise they were in fact the right way up. Glancing back to her dextro accomplices, the Asari was glad to see that, despite looking several shades paler and queasier than when they set out, they appeared none the worse for wear. Moving her gaze up to the Commander, Liara could barely believe the jubilant grin once again adorning the Human's features.

"_Ha_! Much better than some dusty old dig site!"

Whatever reply Liara had prepared was swallowed by the groan of her voice, as her hand, of its own volition, grasped for the emergency door handle, wrenching it open. The Asari stumbled out, seriously considering kissing the concrete below her. _Sweet, unmoving, stable concrete. _From the back, she could hear the other two do likewise. Only Shepard appeared unaffected, leaning over the roof of the Mako to survey her squad before hopping off the vehicle, her shoulders falling in a petulant slump.

"_Ugh_. You guys are _no_ fun."

.

* * *

Leaving Tali and Garrus to buff out the scratches on the Mako, Shepard and Liara chose to investigate the faint life signals coming from the nearby warren of tunnels. Shepard lead, using her Omnitool as a sensor, stretching out her arm in front and following the clicks. Liara stalked not a pace behind, her fingers crackling intermittently with blue electricity. While her mind really should have been on the mission, Liara couldn't help as her thoughts wandered back to the previous day's events and more specifically, the words imparted by a certain Lieutenant.

"Shep-Shepard," the Asari began hesitantly, her eyes screwing up as she contemplated her next words.

"Mhmm, Blue?" Shepard sniffed tilting her back slightly, her eyes never leaving the orange read out.

"Lieutenant Alenko mentioned that Humans have these... these _types_-"

"_Alliance! That's close enough!"_

The pair startled at the loud screech of the tannoy as two guards sprang from cover several feet ahead. With the tannoy still activated, Shepard heard sounds of a scuffle and an exasperated woman's tones joining those of the angry man's.

"Relax, Jeong, they're obviously _not_ Geth!"

"Get back, Juliana!"

Shepard strolled past the two guards, disarming them with little more than a scowl and moved into the open room to see the frantic man waving a pistol around with dangerous abandon.

"I suggest you put that weapon down, _Sir_, unless you're ready to use it." Shepard's voice cut through the air, managing to quieten even the hum of the nearby generators. The woman looked up, relieved to see the Commander in the doorway.

"Don't worry about _him_. He just cares about the _company_."

"And you trust too easily, Juliana!"

Juliana dismissed him with a wrinkling of her nose, before turning her attention back to Shepard.

"I'm just glad to see a friendly face. We're the only humans left on this planet."

"No you're not." Liara cut in, confusion over taking her previous nerves. "There is a Mr Fai Dan and some colonists still alive, if a little sickly, back at Zhu's Hope."

Juliana's face contorted in rage at the remark as she rounded on Jeong.

"_What the hell!?"_ She prodded the man forcefully in the chest. "_You_ said they were all dead!"

Jeong finally cowed, shrinking away from the raging woman. "I said _probably_."

Shepard closed her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose in frustration. _I don't have the time or patience for this. _

"Look, I have a job to do; how far are we from the Geth base?"

The woman approached Shepard, her demeanour calming.

"You're almost there. They're holding up the Exo Geni headquarters, just a little bit further down the skyway."

The man's form returned as he stormed up to the trio, waving a finger in the air wildly, ever the picture of the gleefully obstructive bureaucrat.

"_No no no no no_! Those Headquarters are private property, _Soldier_. You are to remove the Geth and _nothing_ _else_, you hear me?"

Shepard glared at Jeong and opened her mouth to retort. Thinking of better uses for her breath, she spun on her heel and marched back to the entrance, Liara falling quickly in tow as guards and scientist cleaved a path for them, terrified of falling in the path of the Commander's wrath. Just about to turn the corner, they heard hurried footsteps catch up with them.

"Commander, please, before you go," Juliana said, panting lightly as she slowed. "I-My daughter, Lisbeth. She-She's missing... But she's _alive_. I know it. I-I can't... if something happen-"

Her previous anger dissipating, Shepard placed a gentle gauntlet on the woman's shoulder, quelling her rambling.

"It's alright Ma'am. Do you know where your daughter would be?"

"She-She was a researcher. She could be anywhere around the labs. But I-_I don't know_..."

The Commander quietly shushed the woman, fixing her with determined stare.

"Ma'am, if she's in there, I swear that we'll get her out. Just... keep everyone bunkered down here until I find out what the Geth are after. Okay?"

Juliana nodded, managing a weak smile. With a small bow, she returned into the depth of the compound. Turning to give Liara a confident smile of her own and tilt of her head, Shepard made for the opposite direction.

"So what were you saying, Blue?"

"What? I-Oh, yes." Liara nodded, quickly psyching herself up once more. "Well, yesterday, Kaidan mentioned _types_. From what I understand, they appear to be a collection of phenotypes and traits that one would find attractive in a mate. For-for example," She thought back to the description Alenko had given, "Dark hair... '_honey-brown' eyes_ and a brave yet sensitive soul."

Shepard quirked her eyebrow as she continued to walk through the maze of corridors. _Sounds like Emil... or Kaidan._ She frowned, quickly getting the feeling that this conversation was not going to bolster her current mood.

"Would you consider these appealing traits for your species?"

Shepard was slightly swayed from the question, still ruminating over the idea of Kaidan. "Umm, yeah. I...I guess?"

Behind the Commander, Liara deflated slightly, rather hoping for a different answer.

"So... so it would not be uncommon or strange for someone to possess such an attraction to a person befitting such qualities?"

"Wha-? No," Shepard's voice dropped, quiet, despondent. '_Course. Why wouldn't she?_ "No."

Liara's stomach sank at the wistful intonation she had thought she detected. _Nothing more than wishful thinking. _Swallowing heavily, it proved a struggle for the Asari to express her words whilst hiding the slight bitterness that welled within her. _I should at least be happy for my friend_. "That's... _good_."

The rest of the trip back up to the surface was made in silence as the two women were lost in their thoughts. Emerging from the tunnel, they were spotted by Tali, who gave a quick wave before joining Garrus in the hold of the Mako. Moving to their respective doors at opposite sides of the vehicle, both Human and Asari stood for a moment, their hands on the handles and foreheads resting against the cool metal hull, and in unison, let out a heavy sigh laced with defeat.

_She likes Kaidan. Damn it._


	8. My Hovercraft is Full of Eels

**AN** - Long chapter is loooong. So I'm going to make it longer with this AN. Suck it.  
- Once again, sorry for the delay. Life is so rude.  
- I'd like to take this opportunity to let everyone know how awesome getdev is. He is truly the coolest cat in all of Canada, if not the world. Round of applause, people.  
- There is this utterly fantastic fshep/ash fic going on that I am in love with and I think it's criminal that it hasn't gotten more adulation, purely because it's a rare pair. So if femslash is your thing (and don't lie, it is ;) ) get on it here /s/8544088/1/The-Perceived-Universe  
- I'd like to say we're nearly done with Feros, but my notes on the mission say I'm only up to page 8/14, so there goes that thought.  
- The translations here are meant to be bad. So don't worry, I didn't have a stroke half way through writing it.  
- One of the very few things I hated about the Tenth Doctor was his shoe horning of exotic catchphrases. They just sounded silly coming from DT's lovely mouth  
- Also I _totally_ didn't forget about Fai Dan until the very last minute. Heh heh. *shifty eyes*

Onward!

.

* * *

.

**2183 CE - **Attican Beta / Theseus System / Feros  
**ExoGeni Compound**

The Mako trundled slowly up through the compound, Shepard's features contorted in concentration as the narrow pathway dictated she exercise care and precision in maneuvering the behemoth skyward. Despite inching closer to the heart of Geth territory, the squad were once again struck by the eerie silence that reverberated around them. _There should be more of them. _Reaching an insurmountable pile of rubble, the squad disembarked before surveying their surroundings.

"No active electromagnetic signals within 50 meters, Commander," Tali spoke, fingers dancing across her Omnitool. In response, Shepard gave a brusque nod.

"Alright, fan out. I wouldn't put it past them to lay some surprises for us. No stone unturned, people."

Allowing a cursory glance down a collapsed stairwell, Shepard continued on, stepping through a nearby doorway with Garrus close behind, leaving Tali and Liara to handle the main chamber. The room was relatively small, little more than a glorified storage cupboard; replacement parts and spare components littered amongst the rubble that was synonymous with the building. The marine transitioned over to a fallen drawer and began leafing through its contents while Garrus, bored of standing guard against nothing, kicked at the pile of debris with his feet, his brow plates knitting upon hearing a distinctly metal clang. Bending down to uncover the metal, Garrus' hands kept moving as a broad metallic plate was unearthed, the Turian barely able to detect the faint thrumming through his gauntlet's weave.

Rock and concrete fell away to reveal the hump of the metal contraption, like some form of robotic Elcor. Distantly, Garrus heard Tali's tones echo from the chamber outside.

"Commander! I'm picking something up! It's a big one!"

"A big one?" Shepard called back, turning away from the drawer, her attention drawn to the Turian. Hand still on the contraption, Garrus whipped his arm back, as if scolded as the gentle thrum warped into a shuddering vibration. The pair watched in stunned silence as the metallic Elcor got to his feet shakily, only being brought back to the present as Tali approached, her voice harried.

"Yes! An Armature! Somewhere in..." She stopped at the doorway as her attention too was taken up by the Geth construct, currently examining its quarry with equal fascination. Annoyed at being left out, Liara came to join her accomplices, stopping just behind Tali and gulped at the sight.

"P-Perhaps its vision is based on movement?"

"No, well, not entirely" Tali muttered back, struggling in vain to keep her nervous fidgeting in check. "It has an array of sensors for a variety of waveforms, including heat, sound, infra-red and ultraviolet all around its body. So unless every single one of its thousand sensors are broken, it can definitely see us."

"Alright people, out the door, _slowly_. No sudden movements. If we're lucky, it might just let us go."

Garrus had reached the door frame and joined the two women before fate decided Shepard did not share such luck. Four metres from freedom, the Geth let out an unholy screech, propelling one of its large pillars of a leg in front of the door, blocking the exit. Trapped, Shepard could do little else than back up into the far wall to avoid the thinner poles that extended from the Armature lashing out at her. At the neck joint, Shepard's eyes widened in fear as two barrels extended from the synthetic's body. She let out a hollow laugh as, while the gun barrels whirled with vehemence, they could only manage a lame click as the damaged systems failed. _Not completely dead. Yet. That's... something. _

Another tendril whipped out, causing the Commander to wince as it lanced her armour, filling the enclosed space with a shower of sparks. Ducking under the thing's carapace, Shepard tried to find a small gap to squeeze through the exit. Trying to shift the mech proved futile as it remained steadfastly glued to the ground. Glancing out the crack between its legs into the main chamber, she watched as Garrus whacked the limb with the butt of his rifle while Tali and Liara frantically searched for another solution. She thought about shouting up to them to run back to the Mako, before realising it most likely wouldn't squeeze up the narrow steps. She sighed. What she wouldn't give for the Mako and her turrets right about now. _I'm good with explosions. They're my thing. _

She panicked as a tendril snuck its way under the Armature to join her, coiling itself around her leg. With a grunt, Shepard wrenched the thing off of her, severing the cable with a few discharges of her pistol. She made to stand up, resulting in a thorough whacking of her head against the Geth's underbelly. Looking up, she saw the shell of its casing had fallen off, revealing a nest of intricate wiring and motherboards. _It would be a shame if something happened to it_. She gave a feral grin. _I'm good with explosions._

Pawing at her belt, she quickly produced a grenade and activated the small disc with a flick of her thumb. Nestling it securely within the morass of wiring, Shepard ducked back out from under the Armature and retreated to the furthest corner of the room. The Geth watched her movements, its face plates whirring in what the Commander would appropriate with human confusion. Seconds later she heard a satisfying, if slightly muffled bang as the grenade detonated, spewing the Armature's insides over the floor. Rather than topple over on the spot, the Synthetic swayed, obviously wounded, before lurching towards Shepard, making one last desperate lunge to destroy its prey. Sliding under its body, Shepard leapt up towards the newly vacated exit and her three companions, watching her in a mixture of fear and trepidation.

Her foot ready to cross the threshold, Shepard's arm caught. Releasing a furious grunt, the Commander turned back to see several tendrils wrapping themselves securely around her arm. Giving a tug, she was dismayed to feel her armour crack and splinter slightly under the tightening pressure. From the smoking Geth, she heard the faint, tinny sound of a Quarian, droning instructions in what Shepard vaguely recalled as an old Rannoch dialect crackle over the sound of harried bleating.

"Warning; Critical System Malfunction. Prepare for imminent Self-Destruction. Please vacate the area. Warning; Critical System Malfunction..."

Shepard's grunt warped into a breathy yelp as she clambered to get free. Unsheathing her pistol, she fired into the growing mass of synthetic vines encasing her arm, succeeding in severing a few only to have them immediately replaced by further kin. Her pistol jammed, the heat of the grip detectable through her glove. Discarding it, she felt two three fingered claws grasp her free arm, tugging her toward the exit. She budged slightly as the Armature grated a few inches across the floor before beginning to reel its tendril in. Another tug. Shepard let out a gasp as she felt a popping in her shoulder, teeth gritting as she saw her arm extend an inch more than it naturally would. She turned back to Garrus, frantic eyes betraying her otherwise commanding exterior_. It was useless. No need in him getting caught up in the blast too._

"Move! Get away, now!"

"Shepard, I'm not-"

"Now Garrus!" She swallowed, her scowl melting slightly. "That's an order."

With an indignant growl, Garrus released her arm, backing away to rejoin the two women watching the scene with baited breath. Feeling a tightening around her ankle, Shepard glanced down to see more vines coiling around her leg, whipping it out from under her. Falling to the ground on her stomach, winded, it took the Commander an extra second to realise she was being pulled slowly towards the self-destructing creature. The bleating rose in pitch and pace, heralding the imminent destruction about to be wrought down on the tiny closet. With her one remaining free limb, Shepard scrambled, hooking onto any large pieces of rubble or outcroppings she could, trying her best to get snagged as far away from the sentient bomb as possible.

She had barely even realised it had exploded when it happened. One minute she was leaving boot imprints on an obscenely large rock, the next she was surrounded by whiteness, a pervasive humming sound reverberating through her skull as she careened through the air, past her squad and flopping to the ground like a ragdoll. For a few precious moments, it was peaceful, her mind emptying, entering a Zen like calm as she lay, waiting for her body to reregister input from the outside world.

Feeling returned first, or more accurately, pain did. Her shoulder burned with intensity as bone ground delicately against bone and her hand and foot tingling as blood rushed back into the limb, bringing with it an intense sensation of pins and needles. Her vision soon followed as the main chamber returned into view, along with the frantic faces of her friends fretting over her body. They were talking animatedly, desperate to assure Shepard was alright, but the Commander could not hear what they were saying, just dull mumblings that suggested sound that occasionally pierced through the incessant ringing in her ears.

She sat up, gasping and immediately lay back down again as a wave a nausea washed over her. She remained on the ground, breathing heavily while her friends continued to mumble incoherently. Slowly the nausea faded, along with the ringing in her right ear, the left still throbbing and whining painfully. The squad continued to talk gibberish amongst themselves. Shepard stumbled to her feet tentatively, growing tired of waiting for the ringing to subside.

"_Ugh_. Love a duck. It feels like..." She swayed slightly and bowed her head, bringing her fingers up to pinch the bridge of her nose as she scrunched her face. "...It feels like someone cracked open my skull and..." she didn't dare open her mouth as a small flash of sickness pulsed through her. "..._chundered_ all over my brain."

Her three associates' shoulders slumped as confusion played out across their faces. The Commander was talking funny. Her voice had taken on odd intonations, she spoke more with her teeth and didn't quite pronounce her T's and R's quite the same. Liara's mouth twitched at the sounds. All in all, she found it rather charming.

"Shepard? You okay?" Garrus asked somewhat hesitantly. The Commander merely stared at him.

_That's weird_. Shepard swore she heard her name amongst the Turians flanged purring. _Must just be the brain booting back up._

"Say again, Vakarian?"

"You- Your voice. It's all... _different_."

_Definitely purring_. Shepard frowned.

"I-I don't- what?"

"Keelah, Shepard. Perhaps you hit your head harder than we thought."

The Commander turned to Tali, listening to the Quarian's lilt. It was odd, like someone trying their best to imitate an old modem, the synthetic squeals and warbling sounding much more pleasing coming from an organic throat. Beginning to feel an uneasiness unrelated to her pounding head, Shepard could do little more than stare, dumbfounded at her friend.

Liara remained quiet, examining the Commander. The explosion that had sent her flying had left its mark over Shepard, or more accurately, half of her. The left side of her face was smattered with dust a small cuts, a thin trickle of blood making its way out her ear and down the side of her face. Delicately, Liara picked up the piece of wire that hung limp from the neck of Shepard's suit, the flesh coloured bud charred black and frayed. Her brow furrowed.

"It looks like her comm. unit has been destroyed. Isn't that where Humanity put their translator implants?"

"Yeah," Garrus scrunched his face up slightly. "A few buddies back in C-Sec had that done, but most of 'em have them installed in their... what did they call it? _Canal_?"

Shepard merely sat, watching the discussion, the ringing in her hear never stopping. She was mildly surprised by the sing-song quality of Liara's voice. If that was how all Asari spoke naturally, it was no wonder they were the most sought after species in Council Space. _Typical_. Shepard barely managed to stop her eyes from rolling. _Just one more thing for Liara to endear herself with._ Her brow flattened. _Crushes suck. _Still battling the intermittent bouts of ill that swept over her, it took the Commander a second to realise Liara had turned her attention to her.

"I know of some Earth languages. Not a lot, but hopefully..." Liara fixed Shepard with patient gaze as she spoke slowly, her mouth moving exaggeratedly as she enunciated each word. "Shepard, du ohr... kaputt? Sie haben eine... oreja rota? Comprende?"

_My ears fucked? Yeah I could've told you that._ She shook her head slightly, dispelling the thoughts and promptly wincing at the pain it caused. "I-Yeah, I-I understand... kind of. Look, can-can you lot hear me fine?"

Liara looked at her two companions who shrugged and nodded. The Commander's diction was warped slightly but for the most part, she was intelligible.

"Da."

Shepard sniffed, placing a hand on her hip and a determined scowl on her face, choosing now to ignore the pain lancing through her body rather than succumb to collapsing unconscious on the ground. The latter choice was proving increasingly desirable. _Who knew rubble and concrete could look so comfortable? No. Now's not the time for that._

"So, I'm deaf in one ear, need my arm popped into place, can't contact the Normandy, don't understand a lick of what my squad says and am about to take on a battalion of Geth for reasons I don't have a Scooby about?" _Don't forget ready to pass out or spew violently at any given minute, too._ With her shoulders slumped, Shepard gave a weary sigh.

"Well, bollocks."

.

* * *

.

Having no other option to dive down the collapsed stair well, Shepard led her team further down into the building. She was ever thankful for the bulk of her armour, succeeding in camouflaging what shaking and shivers she couldn't control. The only thing keeping her tethered to consciousness was the constant ringing in her ear, as useful as it was aggravating. _If this is God closing door and opening a window, I'd hate to see what shithole of a house he lives in. _

Coming to the end of the corridor, the quartet found themselves in what appeared to be a spacious sewer system, foul smelling water trickling across the floor, small deltas created by the abandoned Varren corpses. Approaching one, Garrus kicked it onto its side, motioning to a few tailored holes around its neck. Approaching, Shepard followed his line of sight and gave a murmur of agreement.

"Mhmm. I'm guessing it weren't _natural_ _causes_."

Looking over as Garrus flared his mandibles in accord. Shepard barely had time to react as the bark of a pistol cut through the air, sending Liara reeling back behind him. Making sure the Asari was nothing more than startled, the shot barely grazing her armour, Shepard spun on her heel, glaring furiously in the direction of the sound.

Expecting to see an enraged Geth, _Wait – do Geth even get enraged? _Shepard was dimly surprised to see a terrified woman standing, the pistol wavering dangerously in her hands and her face ghost white. However the woman's nervous nature did little to temper the raging Commander as she rounded in the scientist, snarling.

"You better have a _Good_. _Goddamn_. _Bloody_. _Reason_ for doing that."

"I-I'm sorry! I thought one of those robots or the Varren! I'm the only one left!" The woman wilted slightly under Shepard's furious glare."I-It's my own fault. Everyone else was running and I stayed to back up the data. I-I got trapped. I _tried_ to get out but the place is swarming with those droids."

Shepard sniffed, surveying her surroundings. "Well, I'll carve a path through those Geth soon enough."

"It's not them, well, not entirely. It's their energy field that they put up. I don't know how to take it down."

Shepard sighed, struggling to contain another outburst. She was quickly becoming tired of Feros.

"Look, sweetheart, I'm here for the Geth. If you know anything about this gaff, or why those tin cans are so insistent; spit it out."

"I-I don't know for certain, but I'd hazard a guess it's for the Thorian."

Behind the Commander, Garrus gave a confused purr. The woman nodded at him.

"Yes. Thorian. It's an indigenous life form. ExoGeni was studying it."

Shepard frowned slightly.

"I'm gonna need more to go on than that, love. I need to know why the Geth are so up in arms for this _Thorian_."

The woman turned back to the Commander, suddenly shy again.

"I-I might be able to get you all the data on the system, but not with those Geth crawling around everywhere if we get to the right terminal, but we need to get out of here past that field. I think those ships are powering it. At any rate, the field isn't compatible with any ExoGeni tech." The woman gave a shuddering sigh. "Oh god, I don't even know if my mom's alive."

Shepard's anger, at least at the woman dissipated as she gently laid a hand on the woman's shoulder, too tired to get riled up by people who most likely didn't deserve it.

"You're Baynham? Lisbeth? Your mum's safe for now." A thought occurred to her. "Wait, actually, can you understand my squad?"

Lisbeth looked at the Commander as if she had grown an extra head. "I-Yes, of course. Why?"

"Short story is I can't, but if you can, well, you just bagged yourself a gig as my interpreter."

"Oh... kay?"

Taking the small turn of fortunes as a tick in the win column, Shepard beamed, clapping the scientist on the shoulder."

"Alrighty then. I'll take point, diamond formation. Betty, you stay in the middle." She guided Lisbeth into the centre of the group. "Right. Lads," She nodded to Garrus. "Lady lads." She gave a confident smirk to the three women. "Roll out."

.

* * *

.

The party swept silently through the compound, their bodies tensing as indiscriminate growls echoed down the hall way.

"_Stupid Machine_! Access Encrypted Files! _No_! I don't want to 'Review Protocol'!"

"I am unable to comply. Please contact a supervisor."

"Tell me what I want or I'll blow your virtual ass into actual dust!"

"Please contact your supervisor for level four access security exemption, or make an appoint-"

"_Stupid Machine!"_ The Krogan let out a guttural roar and thrust his foot into the terminal, denting it.

"Sir, if there is nothing else, please step aside, a queue is forming."

The Krogan turned around at this, confused, only to be confronted with the combined glares of Shepard and her squad, the Commander herself already causally pulling out her shotgun. Keeping an unimpressed eye on the Krogan, Shepard tilted her head back slightly, addressing Baynham.

"Do I even have to ask?"

The hulking brute's charge was answer enough, but stood little chance against the onslaught of firepower from the fearsome four. With one final blast a point blank range, the Krogan fell at Shepard's feet, causing her to sigh as she carefully stepped over the immobile lump. Stepping aside, she allowed the researcher access to the terminal.

"Note: Discharging weapons out-with _ExoGeni Certified Weapon Dischargement Facilities_ is an offence punishable with suspension, investigation and possible contract severance. Also note: Non-sanctioned employees are not permitted within these premises. Alerting security force now."

Shepard tensed before realising any potential security force was most likely dead or bunkered up with Jeong and company back at the entrance_. It's a silver lining. Not a very shiny one, granted, but it's there none the less._ Stepping back from the terminal, Baynham motioned for the Commander to take her place in front of the VI.

"What did that previous guy want information on?"

"Species 37, the Thorian, Miss Baynham. No new information has been posted since last check. There has been no contact with Zhu's Hope for several cycles."

"_A_ _Thorian_? What the hell is that, and what's it got to do with Zhu's Hope?"

"Located in the substructure of the compound, Species 37 was originally discovered..."

Shepard zoned out as the VI gave the plant's life history, focusing only on the parts that made her stomach sink. _A sentient plant that brainwashes people and turns them into crazy cultists_? Shepard almost wanted to laugh at the absurdity of it. _Wouldn't want today getting too boring, now, would we?_

"-ikely 85% of 'Hope inhabitants infected."

From behind, Tali's lilting tones wafted into the Commander's ears before Baynham translated.

"Sh-She says you should radio back just to be safe."

Shepard nodded and waited for the Quarian to contact base. Her brow furrowed as Tali's voice became less accommodating and tinged with panic. She watched in silent consternation as Garrus and Liara took to their ear pieces, talking incoherently into them. Lisbeth glanced nervously toward the Commander.

"I don't think they can reach them. I'd guess it's the fields blocking this place. The sooner we can take them out, the sooner we can get back and make sure everything's fine."

Shepard sighed. "Looks like we're on our own kidd-"

"Alert!" The VI piped up, catching the group's attention. "Unusual power fluctuations have been detected. Unable to determine source. Stability of facility unknown. Evacuation procedures are advised. Alert! Unusua-"

"Baynham," Shepard turned to the researcher, a serious frown upon her face. "Let Garrus here download all available data on the Thorian." She turned to the Turian in question. "I want to know how big it is, where it is, what it does, _hell_, what it had for breakfast. Tali," Leaving Lisbeth and Garrus to the terminal, she approached her two remaining squad members. "Can you get a lock on that fluctuation?" The Quarian nodded.

"Magic. Now, the three of us," she motioned to Tali and Liara, "are going to go snag us some synthetics. You two," she called behind her as the trio made for the door. "Catch up when you're ready. Just follow the explosions and you should find us." She gave a cocky grin to her associates before Baynham shouted back, worried.

"Are you going to be alright? I mean, what if you need something translated?"

"Sweetheart, we'll be shooting Geth and blowing shit up. Those kind of things tend to transcend language barriers. Now, Blue, Twinkle Toes, come on, Allons-y!"

Leading the way, Shepard could swear she heard Liara's dulcet tones muttering from behind.

"_Seriously?"_

_._

* * *

_._

After returning from her escapades down the tunnels, Ash returned to camp, helping Kaidan unload some of the spare supplies from the Normandy. Making her way through the camp, Williams couldn't help but feel self conscious under the silent glares of the inhabitants, scrutinising her every step. She had thought they had been weird before, but this was another league entirely. The Commander couldn't return fast enough, in her opinion. Idly, she wondered what the Away Team were getting up to, having had no contact since they had left an hour and a half beforehand.

Despite her previous misgivings, the aliens among the crew had grown on her. After Shepard's... _pep talk, _Ashley had managed to find a kindred spirit in Vakarian. Both soldiers from military families, they had quickly rustled up a friendly rivalry, comparing barrel sizes and war stories. It was nice. What surprised the Human most was that when she finally took the gamble and shared why she was so hung up on extraterrestrials, Garrus understood. Expecting derision and made to look a fool, the Turian's sympathies towards her grandfather's predicament were a refreshing change.

Tali and Liara, while not born and bred soldiers like the rest of the crew, both had a spark within them that reminded the marine of her younger sisters. Tali had the technical wizardry and cocky self assurance of Abby and Lynn, while Liara shared her taste in marines with her youngest sister, Sarah, if the way the Asari covertly ogled the Commander was anything to go by. Wrex however, was more like her uncle Eric, a man's man to be sure and a warrior to the core but still possessed a gentle parental streak that Ash wasn't sure that even he knew existed. _Men_. She snorted at the thought. Along with Kaidan, the squad was quickly becoming Ash's second family, a tight knit team who could speak volumes while only saying a few words. The Normandy, more so than any other ship or settlement she had been stationed on, was beginning to feel like home and along with the band of misfits that populated the vessel; Williams couldn't help but feel oddly optimistic about the mission's chances_. With a team like this, how can we lose?_

Jumping aboard through the cargo bay door, Ash quickly moved to position, helping Kaidan in loading a large crate of rations onto the trolley. Taking the strain, she gave a small grunt. _Damn thing's heavier than it looks._ Kaidan gave wheezy chuckle at the Gunnery Chief's response. Just as they were about to give the crate one final push, a startled scream rang through the hanger, followed by sounds of a scuffle in the distance.

Letting the crate crash to the ground, Williams and Alenko shot out the Bay door and thundered back to the settlement. The inhabitants of Zhu's Hope stood around, ashen faced and sweating profusely as they muttered in unison, wild eyes darting angrily at the two marines. In the centre of the crude semi-circle stood Fai Dan, his arm wrenched around an increasingly red faced Chakwas, her feet kicking uselessly on the ground as she tried to keep her footing. In their own synchronisation, Williams and Alenko immediately found their weapons in their hands, pointed at the man. Kaidan glared, trying his best to emulate one of Shepard's trademark scowls.

"Let her go. No one needs to get hurt."

"_She does_! And _you_!" He spat back, jerking the Doctor about in his grip. "We were fine before you showed up! It was peaceful! _We_ were peaceful. Now it's angry! Oh god," His voice trailed off to a whimper. "_So angry." _

Ash's eyes flickered behind the colonists to see Wrex storming up silently, no mean feat for a Krogan of his size. Attempting to hide her surprise as best as possible, she turned her attention back to the group, who were now shuffling together ever so slightly, trying to shield the still struggling Chakwas from view.

"It wants you. _All of you_. Your Commander. Your ship. It _sees_ everything. All that has happened. All that _will_ happen. Letting the Turian go was a mistake. One that shall not be repeated. You belong to the Thorian now."

"The _what_?" Kaidan scrunched his face up as Ash saw his body tense, having spotted Wrex sneaking up, now in their peripheries. Fai Dan, still unaware of threat, merely sneered at the two marines.

"The Tho-"

Growing tired of the underhanded tactics, Wrex let out a guttural bellow, before ploughing through the back of the crowd, sending the colonists flying left and right. Scooping both Fai Dan and Chakwas up, the Krogan wrenched the colonist's arm from Chakwas' throat, popping it out of its socket in the process, before discarding the man as he continued to barrel towards the marines, only depositing the Doctor when they were safely behind cover.

Making sure she was steady on her feet, Wrex spun back around, whipping his shot gun out in the process as he began stalking toward the snarling crowd. Before he could brush past them, he felt Kaidan place an insistent arm in front of him, halting his advance.

"No, no shooting. These people are sick. It-It's not their fault. They can't help it."

Wrex gave a snort of discontent.

"Doesn't matter whose fault it is. They tried to harm one of our own. It's only fair we return the favour."

"They're not dangerous! Look!" Kaidan motioned towards the crowd, slowly picking themselves up and beginning to round on the trio. "At most, they've got pea shooters! They need help, not bullets."

Ash shifted uncomfortably on her feet as the Krogan remained silent and unmoving.

"H-He's right, Wrex. We should retreat, secure the Normandy."

Wrex growled, but rescinded.

"Fine. Pathetic Humans. We'll do it your way."

Giving one last snarl to the advancing crowd, making them wince and jump back slightly, Wrex turned on his heel and put a firm hand on Chakwas' shoulder, forcing her to give a small stumble.

"You OK, doc?"

"I-Yes, thank you Wrex." Chakwas glanced up at the hulking brute, giving a grateful nod of her head, before gently massaging her neck. "I should be fine. It's the colonists I fear for. They're diseased, _infected_, but they won't let me help them. They'll die."

"And that's a bad thing? They're weak, broken. Let them go out with some glory."

"Mhmm." Chakwas' mouth quirked as she raised a scolding eyebrow at the Krogan, clearly unimpressed by the Battlemaster's outlook. Wrex gave a small chuckle at her reaction. Few people ever stood up to him in his hundreds of years mercenary work, but here he was, on the Normandy, and already three Humans had challenged him, refusing to be cowed by his physical appearance or gruff demeanour. He was beginning to like this species.

The quartet quickly boarded the ship, with Williams and Alenko never taking their eyes of their flank, making sure to keep the crazed colonists at bay. Leaving Ash and Wrex to secure the cargo bay door, Kaidan took the elevator up a level before sprinting through the CIC. Hearing the marine storming up, Joker leaned out of his chair, a worried grimace on his face.

"I saw it all from here. Crazy shit, right?"

"Right." Kaidan stopped a second to catch his breath. "I don't know what's going on but the sooner we-"

A dull clunk reverberated around the cabin, causing both men to pause. Bringing up a surveillance cam, Joker looked outside to see several colonists scrambling around for debris to throw. One colonist, a child, pleased with a clump of concrete no bigger than a grape fruit, launched it towards the Normandy's hull. There was a second's delay before the same dull clunk rang out once more. Watching the feed, Kaidan barely registered Ashley coming up behind him, silently joining the pair. Outside, another colonist, this one a large man, was counting five large paces from the airlock's door. With a deep breath, he charged. This time, a lingering clang warbled through the hull, causing all three jaws to tighten as they glanced towards the source of the noise. Seeing more colonists gather, Joker let out a small groan as his fingers began dancing over the ship's interface.

"Goddamn. I'm gonna get Shepard on the horn..."

Ash turned to Kaidan, apprehensive.

"So what do we do? The Normandy isn't equipped with non lethal weaponry and I don't think we can trick them into getting shots of sedatives with the promise of stickers and lollipops. It's kill or be killed, but there's no way in hell I'm _executing_ unarmed, mentally infirm civilians. I-I refuse." She held up her hands in defeat. Beside her, Kaidan continued to stare at the airlock door, hands on hips and shaking his head.

"No, you're right." He sighed. "Hell, I agree. You couldn't pay me enough for that shit. But we don't have any other options, other than sitting it out and waiting for the Commander to return."

Ash collapsed into a nearby seat, dejected.

"That's _if_ she manages to get through that lot. I-I mean, _she_ wouldn't kill them, right?"

A pained grimace flitted across Kaidan's face.

"I-No, No. She wouldn't. She's not like that. She'll find another way, a better way. That's what she does. Joker," he turned back around to the pilot. "Any luck?"

"No," Joker grumbled, growing increasingly aggravated with the system. "I'm not getting a response from any of them. Looks like something's blocking the signal."

Kaidan let his head fall back as he let out a low groan. "God, I just hope they're alright."

"They'll be fine." Kaidan felt a hand on his shoulder as Ash came to stand by him, a small smile on her face as she tried to alleviate the situation.

"They'll find a way back. That's what Shepard does, remember?"

.

* * *

.

"Well bugger me sideways."

Having allowed Baynham and Garrus to catch up, the team had finally made their way out through a corridor only to be faced with several giant, imposing claws pincered into the side of the building, making way for a morass of cables worming their way into the facility. The sheer scale of it all managed to cow Shepard slightly.

"How do we get shot of all this, then?"

Behind her, Liara continued to warble while Tali attempted her best impression of an old modem. Approaching one giant claw, Liara flitted her palm over the smooth metal, examining it with sharp eyes.

"_It is an indelicate solution, perhaps, but ultimately efficient. How do we cut the power coming from the ship?"_

To her left, Tali sucked in air through her teeth as she tilted her head in thought.

"_It will be difficult. We could check the claws for weaknesses, but the Geth are incredibly thorough. I doubt we'd find anything useful."_

Shepard waited for Baynham to translate before letting out a sigh, her features flattening. With a shake of her head, she moved towards another exit.

"Alright, if there's nothing we can do here, move out. There's gotta be something somewhere."

The squad returned to stalking through the rubble strewn corridors, Shepard picking up several exotic cuss words from her associates along the way as they hit yet another collapsed stair well or dead end. Seeing another room made larger by the destruction of walls and roofs from the claws, Shepard immediately tensed, her good ear picking up soft synthetic screechings that had grown far too familiar for the Commander's liking. Creeping around the corner, Shepard spotted several of the Geth constructs milling around another set of large claws, hardwiring their tech into the system.

Counting off on her fingers, Shepard burst into action, springing from cover and leaping toward a bank of computers, discharging her gun all the way. Singeing her hand on the overheated battery, Shepard shipped her rifle, swapping it out for her Karpov pistol. Glancing behind, she registered as Garrus took his own fortified position, already lining up the first target in his sights. A few feet away, Liara provided biotic support as she dissuaded the synthetics from advancing. Still in the doorway, Tali took it upon herself to shield Baynham as she ran interference, scrambling Geth communications and damping their cohesion.

Pleased, Shepard vaulted over the makeshift cover, sending a warp in the Constructs' direction as she did so. Stumbled and slightly scrambled, Shepard unloaded several rounds in the first Geth's chest, her Tungsten rounds shredding through their wiring, incapacitating it. Never halting her advance, Shepard had already thrust a biotically wreathed fist through a second construct before the first had finished falling. Out the corner of her eye, she watched as one advancing Geth sporadically began sputtering, before two more shots blasted a sizeable hole in its torso. Shepard couldn't help the smirk on her face as she heard Garrus' flanged purring from behind that, while unintelligible, still dripped with the Turian's trademark cocky self assurance.

Ducking, Shepard felt as a biotic pulse flew overhead, causing the hairs on the back of her neck to stand on end. Glancing up, she saw as the last two units floated pitifully overhead, orbiting a small ball of dark energy. Standing to her full height, Shepard detonated the ball with a casual flick of her wrist, the two biotic signatures reacting violently with one another. Without a second glance to the fallen, sputtering corpses, Shepard moved towards the expansive computer bank at the far end of the room, the vast array of buttons, levers and dials proving irresistible.

_Pneumatic Door Controls? Perfect_. She gave a manic grin. Eyeing up the console, Shepard heard Garrus speak again, his upward inflection at the end denoting a question. At a fast walk, Baynham skittishly came to join the squad.

"G-Garrus is right, Commander, are you sure you know what you're doing?"

Shepard gave an unconcerned snort.

"Nope. That's what makes it fun. Right, Blue?"

The Human couldn't control her chuckle at Liara's small blush and petulant pout. Answering the Asari's unasked question, Shepard spoke again.

"And no, sweetheart, I'm never letting you live that one down."

Pleased at the small grumble she got in response, Shepard turned her attention back to the console, using all of her self-taught maths skills to figure out how best to manipulate the broken machine into something workable. After a few minutes, a casual warning tone rang out overhead as the system warmed up.

"Easy! S'almost like I'm playing a game."

Turning back around to her crew, Shepard's attention was caught by the shuddering doors behind them, groaning into life before crashing together with an earth shattering clamour. Stumbling slightly, the quartet watched as the claws began to fall, almost in slow motion. Clapping her hands together, Shepard set off at a pace.

"Right then! Let's go find us a Thorian."

They travelled back in silence for several minutes, before the harried muttering of her squad forced Shepard to turn around, concerned. All three aliens were listening intently to their comm. units, trying to usher peace to the other side. Shepard and Baynham shared a glance. Tali began speaking to Baynham as Garrus took to bartering with the comm. piece. Nodding her head, the human turned to Shepard, worried.

"She says it's a... _Joker_? Says your ship is in lockdown. Something's happened to the colonists, they're trying to force their way in and the crew refuse to open fire."

"Goddamnit." Shepard perched her hands upon her hips, her gaze downcast as she shook her head, annoyed. "Okay, Garrus, Tell him not to panic. They can't do any real damage. We're on our way back. They'll be fine as long as they just hold their position."

She watched as the Turian relayed the orders and rolled her eyes at the overdramatic sigh she picked up from the other end. Biting back a retort, Shepard instead increased her pace, making her way swiftly back to the Mako.

Back out on the skyways, Shepard, much to the relief of her passengers, chose to confront the straggling forces of synthetics at a distance instead of perched on the bumper as she focused on making a hasty retreat back to camp.

"So where is this Thorian, then?" She called back into the cabin as she tore along the sky way. Behind her, she heard Baynham move forward, taking the seat nearest the cockpit.

"I-It'll be directly under Zhu's Hope. But the entrance is blocked. When the Geth came, the colonists closed the gates to the sub levels. That's probably why it's so angry."

Shepard let the thought of plants feeling emotion slide and instead focused on the Geth interest. Why _would they want the Thorian? What was Saren planning?_ While Shepard had no doubt over the rogue Spectre's guilt, and his plan to bring back the Reapers, she didn't have the foggiest over how he would set out to achieve it. That worried her, more than she'd care to admit.

Her musings were interrupted, however, by a crackle of static splaying over the Mako's comms.

"_-llo? Is th-pschhh -one picking this up?-"_

"_Get –way from th-amned radio!"_

Behind her, Baynham tried her best to contain her panic.

"What was that all about?"

"_-uliana Baynham of Fero-pschh – lease help us!-"_

Reaching the small outpost, Lisbeth all but jumped out the car, crawling over Liara and out through the side door.

"That's my mom! Stop! _Stop the Rover goddamnit!"_

Muttering a swathe of curses, the squad extracted themselves from the vehicle and pounded after her, only crawling to a sneak when in sight of Jeong flailing a pistol around madly, his eyes wild with anger. In front of him stood Juliana, clearly fearful but holding onto her composure.

"You can't do this Jeong!"

"Just everyone shut up and let me think!"

"You won't get away with this, Nathan!"

"I've had it with you!" He approached Juliana, snarling in her face. "Get her out of here!"

Shepard tried to grab, but Lisbeth was already storming into the room, eyes set steadfastly on Jeong.

"_Get away from her you son of a bitch!"_

"Lisbeth!" Juliana's exclaimed, while Jeong spun around, his gun waving towards the entrance.

"Yeah, yeah, _alright_, come out, where I can see you. _All of you_."

Rolling her eyes, unamused, Shepard stood up from her cover, hands raised, her squad following closely behind.

"Ha! Shepard, _goddamn it!_ I knew it was too much to hope those tin cans would finish you off." The man's voice was giddy with fear and delirium, having reached his breaking point. _We're on egg shells here. Keep it cool._ Jeong stumbled towards her, eyes searching wildly. "You-You know, I found some interesting facts on the ExoGeni database. I know what you've done. What you can do. You're going to kill them, us, _everyone_! You're deadly. Efficient. I know all about _your_ history, _Commander_. A career built on corpses. That's all you are."

Shepard's back straightened, her patience being tested to its limit, her urge to punch rising. The ringing in her ear returned sevenfold, along with a painful pounding in her head. She spoke slowly, forcing the words out through gritted teeth.

"Not this time, Jeong. Back down and let them go. Nobody's going to get hurt."

"You-you don't understand! It's not that easy! The Communications are back up. ExoGeni wants this place purged!"

Before the Commander could articulate a response, it was Lisbeth who spoke, her voice indignant.

"You can't do that! This is a human colony Jeong! You can't just... _repurpose_ us!"

Jeong merely chuckled at the young scientist. "It's not just _you_. There's something far more valuable here than a _few_ _colonists_."

Shepard forced herself back into the conversation, pleased it was finally getting somewhere relevant. She turned her gaze to the younger Baynham.

"Are you going to spill about the Thorian or shall I?"

"What?" Juliana looked between the three human's, perplexed. Lisbeth at least had the decency to look sheepish as she lowered her gaze, scratching the back of her neck.

"It's, uh, a telepathic life form living under 'Hope. It's taking control of the colonists there. ExoGeni knew all along."

Juliana's eyes flew wide at Jeong, rage reverberating through her being.

"_You won't get away with this Jeong!"_

"So you keep saying." The head of operations took on an eerie calm as he sneered at the scientists. "But nobody's going to miss a few colonists."

_It would be doing everyone a favour to take him out right here. 'Pew pew motherfucker'. No more Jeong. No more bullshit. No more trouble. C'mon. He's outlived his usefulness. _Shepard shook the thoughts from her head before immediately regretting the action as the throbbing pulsed painfully. His previous comments stung. She wasn't a murderer. _Wasn't. _She refused to validate Jeong's ramblings_. No more death. Not by my hand. Not today. _She forced a calm in her voice as she attempted her best diplomat's impression.

"Can't you see the inherent potential in this colony? Think of the promotional opportunities."

"Op-Opportunities? _What the hell are you talking about!?"_

"Think about it; they recovered from an alien attack on a frontier world. _Humanity at its finest._ Add that to your company profile."

"Well, yeah." Jeong said, quirking his head to the side, mulling the idea over. "No one's ever gone broke playing the 'Champion of Humanity' card."

Juliana regarded the man with disgust. "Unfortunately, you'd most likely end up making a killing. But," She gave a sigh and shrug of her shoulders. "If it lets us get back to our lives, I can live with it."

Jeong gave a lecherous grin, the potential riches flying through his imagination.

"It might just work! But no, wait," His brow creased. "The colonists are infected. They'll ruin everything. They need to disappear."

"You can't just kill them!" Juliana rounded on the man. "It's not their fault!"

Coming to stand between her mother and Jeong, Lisbeth looked between the pair apprehensively.

"If we can just kill the Thorian, it might be enough to stop the infection. Maybe."

"Well, let's do that then." Shepard stood for a second, thinking. "But from what I hear, those colonists are going to attack us on sight. By now they've probably unlocked the heavy weapon stash. I might not have a choice."

"No, wait! Take these!" Juliana rummaged around in a nearby drawer for a moment, before depositing a swathe of grenades into the Commander's arms. Shepard stared down at the implements quizzically.

"The idea was to do _less_ damage."

Juliana only rolled her eyes. "And you will, with theses. They're full of nerve agent."

"Umm, call me crazy, but I don't think releasing nerve gas is a good idea. Especially when I can't put on a helmet."

"You'll be fine. Trust me, or I can give you the science spiel. With the colonists already weak, they should be enough to paralyze them while you get the job done."

Acquiescing, Shepard nodded. "I'll do what I can." She spun on her heel, dumped the grenades in Garrus' hands and pointed towards the Mako. "Alright, kids, Move out!"

.

* * *

.

Rolling up to the garage and over the husk pounding the door, the team disembarked. Armed with several grenades each, they entered the compound, navigating the crazed colonists, knocking them out with a few well thrown charges. Shepard grimaced every time they fell limp and lifeless to the ground. She didn't think that she could shoot the colonists even if she wanted to. The fear etched into their pallid faces and sick staining their uniforms painted a rather depressing picture of their state of mind.

When the last colonist fell, Shepard stumbled to a nearby crate for a well needed rest. Motioning over to her squad, she spoke, her words muttered.

"Contact the Normandy. Tell 'em it's safe to come out. And get all these," her scrunched her face in pain as she waved in the direction of the unconscious colonists. "Secured... in a room or... _something_."

Head between her knees, Shepard lost track of time and may have even nodded off before she was brought back to reality by a gentle touch on her shoulder. Glancing up, she saw Liara looking down at her worriedly, Chakwas at her side. In the background, Kaidan, Wrex and Garrus were ferrying limp colonists into the nearby buildings.

"Commander? Liara tells me you've had a bit of a knock on the head. How are you feeling?"

"Like a badger's arse. Not gonna lie." Shepard watched as Chakwas chuckled, her eyebrows rising incredulously.

"Very well Commander. Is there any reason for the 'Muvver Brown' act?"

Shepard's brow furrowed as her brain scrambled for the answer.

"Oh, uh, yeah. My, uhh, translator implant got burned up and I've got this... ringing in my left ear. Pissin' me right off."

At this, the Doctor made a curious noise, a professional, studious veil falling over her face as she examined the Commander, studying her with a critical eye. Sheppard sat awkwardly, giving a sheepish smile to Liara, who watched the interaction with a worried apprehension.

Making another noise in her throat, Chakwas concluded her examination and began rifling through her large medical suitcase.

"Well, Commander, luckily the burns will heal and scab over, given time." She pulled out what looked like a small gun, tipped with a needle, the syringe like middle housing a tiny, delicate data chip. Lining it up with the Commander's right ear, she fired it, causing a shark intake of breath from Shepard. "Not so lucky is the fact you have managed to irreparably damage the hearing in your left ear. Back on the Normandy, I can fit you with an implant, but everything's going to sound like it's underwater from old lefty there from now on."

"What?" Shepard asked, staring up at the physician. Chakwas chuckled, before fixing Shepard with a mockingly stern gaze.

"Very funny, Commander."

Shepard gave a nervous laugh of her own, watching the Doctor go, hoping no one had noticed she was asking a genuine question.

"So, are-are you alright now?" Liara's questioning tones lifted Shepard from her melancholy. Turning to face the Asari, Shepard couldn't help the grin that spread across her face. While Liara's natural melodic tones were lovely, it was giant relief to finally understand what she was saying again.

"Yeah, totally fine." Shepard said, pleased to find her voice had returned to its generic American lilt. Standing and swaying on her feet slightly. Liara faced her, fixing her with a reprimanding glare.

"Are you sure? Look at you. You're as white as ghost and I would bet my Servala you haven't ate since last night. I can get Doctor Chakwas-"

"No, no. She'll only just ground me. We've still got a Thorian to take down." She began to walk to the small building the unconscious colonists were being guarded in, Liara following close behind.

"But, Shepard, you're little use to anyone if you're not properly rested. Chakwas would only prescribe bed rest if you needed it. _Which you do_."

"Pfft." The Commander said, brushing the comment off. "I'll sleep when I'm dead, T'Soni."

"Ugh. _Don't say that."_ Liara rolled her eyes. "Humans are far too morbid."

When the final colonist had been placed safely in the room, Kaidan closed the door. Standing in front of it, Shepard raised her hands in the air.

"Alright team, huddle up. The thing controlling these people is somewhere below our feet. I need these colonists kept under lock and key until we're sure this _Thorian_ thing has been eliminated. Tali, I want you to stay here, secure the door with whatever technical trickery you got. Ash, you're with me, Garrus and Liara. Wrex, back to Geth patrol. While we're gone, Kaidan, you're in charge. Get the Normandy to unload some more rations and supplies. These people are going to need some major aid when they wake up. Everyone good?"

A chorus of affirmatives rang out. Pleased Shepard parted the small crowd and blew the lock to the sub levels. With a final nod to those staying behind, she descended, Garrus, Ash and Liara hot on her trail. As Wrex moved to the outskirts of the colony, Kaidan's brow knit. Turning to Tali, who was already firing away on her Omnitool against the door. Glancing down at her, he spoke slowly, apprehension tugging at his voice.

"Hey, you didn't happen to see Fai Dan's body in there, did you?"

"No," Tali said, her mask never moving from the Omnitool's interface. "Sneaky Bosh'tet's probably already high tailed it out of here, cutting his losses."

"Mhmm. Maybe." Kaidan said, eyes settling on the sub level door, unconvinced.


	9. Not as Think as You Drunk I am

- Long time no see, huh? Unfortunately that's what happens when you mix a thirty hour work week with full time education. I HAVE been writing, you'll be pleased to know, but mostly bits and bobs here and there. Come December I want to get on a writing drive, so more stuff then hopefully! Also tons of catching up to do reading wise. So if you've posted something, I'll get round to leaving a review some time soonish?

- Feros is done, finally. Kinda glad since this is the one 'big' mission I didn't have anything big planned out for, but I'm cautiously pleased with how it's turned out. But you might want to reread the last chapter or two for a bit of a refresher. It has been a while.

- Also just FYI, the short Dance Commander happens somewhere towards the end of this chapter. Also, I just want to say, the service history missions won't be addressed here, because they already happened in CH 4, 6 & 8 (?) of Triple Threat, y'know, if you fancy it. I'd suggest reading the whole thing, but then, I did write it. So Yeah. Onward!

.

* * *

.

**2183 CE**** - **Attican Beta / Theseus System / Feros  
**Zhu's Hope Substructure**

The squad crept down the steps, conscious of the painfully loud reverberation their boots caused, rattling off the concrete walls and high ceiling. Coming out into a large, abandoned cavern, Shepard's eyes were immediately drawn to the large, grotesque, beating heart... _thing_. Her macabre fascination so strong, she jumped at the harried voice that echoed around them. At first, she believed the thing was talking to them, before she recognised the slight accent belonging to Fai Dan. Coming to the parapet of the monstrosity's pit, Shepard leaned over the railing, her eyes scanning upward, looking for any sign of the wayward colony director. He poked his head over his own railing, wild eyes darting over her, several stories above.

"I-I tried to stop it! But I can't! It- It gets inside your head! _You can't imagine the pain_!"

_Try me_. The Commander's brow knit slightly in annoyance as another throb of pain made its presence known in her temples, yet another wave of nausea threatening to overpower her. Taking a moment to centre herself, she waited for the watering in her mouth to subside before she shouted up.

"Look, just come down and nobody else needs to-"

"_No_! I can change this! _Make it right_! It told me not to listen to your _lies_!"

Before she could retort further, Fai Dan vanished from the railing. Shepard made to spring back likewise, but stumbled, her face paling as a sheen of sweat appeared over her forehead. Catching the stumbling Commander, Garrus examined her with sharp eyes. Meeting his gaze with defiance in her own, Shepard quickly straightened her back. The room was spinning, forcing her to stay rooted to the spot. Before her companions could raise an eyebrow, a low guttural groan stole their attention. Glancing up nervously around them, they felt the complex shudder before the groan that reverberated through the concrete turned to a disconcerting squelch, as if something, or a great many somethings were being audibly, disgustingly discreted. Using the distraction, Shepard spun on her heel, hiding her face from her squad's worried glares before setting off at a fast pace for the stairs, making sure to keep the suspended monstrosity in the corner of her eye at all times.

Stopping, she raised her rifle as a shuffling figure appeared in the second floor's doorway. With Ash, Garrus and Liara flanking her, their guns trained likewise on the figure, she began slowly approaching the form.

"Sir? Stay calm. We can get you out of here safely and securely. Please put your ha- wait, _Fai Dan_?"

Responding to the name, the being's head shot up, fixing its glazed eyes upon the Commander. Managing little more than guttural growl, it drunkenly lunged forward. Taking an automatic step backward, Shepard squeezed her trigger finger, not releasing it until she could feel the warmth of the heat sink through her gauntlet.

The being fell. Edging closer to the corpse, Shepard flipped it over with a hesitant flick of her boot. She grimaced at the sight. Staring up at her was the vacant gaze of what appeared to be a poorly drawn reconstruction of Fai Dan; a child's first attempt with clay. The flesh was mottled and grey, and instead of blood it only oozed a strange, viscous fluid. Before the Commander could take in any more of the sight, she was distracted by another figure in the door way. Still drunkenly swaying, like the other being, but retaining a dignified grace that could only belong to an Asari. It remained half in shadow in the doorway as it spoke, an echoing rasp escaping her mouth.

"Invaders. Your every step is a transgression. You are not welcome here; you are useful only to dig or decompose."

Shepard squinted, perplexed as she was convinced she had finally lost her delicate grip on sanity. As if sensing her question, the being spoke once more.

"I speak for the Old Growth, as I did for Saren. You are within and before the Thorian. It commands you to be in awe."

Shepard couldn't control the snort that escaped her throat, failing to follow the Thorian's logic.

"You enslaved the colonists! _You destroyed their minds._ I should burn you where you stand - _hang_, whatever. But look, I'll show mercy if you just tell me what you gave Saren."

The Thorian responded, and Shepard could swear she detected a hint of amusement in its cavernous tones.

"The Thorian is a piece of this world, extending across the land back through the ages. You can no more kill it than cut the sky. Saren sought knowledge of those that were long gone. The Old Growth listened to flesh for the first time in that cycle. Trades were made. Then the cold ones began killing the flesh, so that they could tend to the next cycle. _Flesh willingly given! _It makes little Old Growth has decreed the air that flesh push are _lies_. It will listen no more."

The Asari thrall vanished into the doorway as groaning and creaking came from above, more monstrosities finding their feet. With nary a word said to one another, the Squad fanned out, moving methodically through the complex, navigating higher. The thralls, clearly still in their infancy, were unsteady on their legs and as such, bowled over like skittles from a well timed grenade or biotic blast. Ocassionally, the troupe would come across and make short work of a strange node that seemed to be secreting the monstrosities as well as keeping the growth suspended above its pit. Shepard only ran into trouble when crossing paths with the few Asari abominations that littered the complex. Rather than a tone of blue, the Asari took on a sickly green shade, their faces remaining as unfocused and vacant as those of the Fai Dan clones.

While they said nothing, the three squad members could feel Liara tensing as nerves riddled her being. Protectively, the group folded in slightly, as if physically moving to protect the apprehensive Maiden from the painfully familiar thralls.

Severing the last node, Shepard closed her eyes and listened for intermittent thuds as the giant growth plummeted down the central chamber, occasionally ricocheting off the pit's sides. Only when Williams approached them, did Shepard notice two bulbs protruding from the walls, vaguely humanoid shapes curled up foetally within. Ash tore open the first and the squad recoiled as one, as a pungent waft of rancid breath washed over them. Examining the corpse, it took Shepard several seconds to realise she wasn't looking at another Fai Dan imitation, but what was Fai Dan himself. The corpse appeared drained, white bone shining against dull flesh where digestive juices had eaten away at his once handsome features.

Recovering first, it was Garrus who set to work on ripping apart the other pod. Liara let out a small gasp as, instead of flopping limply onto the floor, this figure sprawled out, coughing as she scrunched up her face in an effort to keep the fluid out of her eyes. Standing, she gingerly wiped her hands over her face, revealing bleary eyes and raw skin. Sores marked her appearance intermittently, however it was apparent the Asari made for a tougher meal than the colonist. Out of the corner of her eye, Shepard saw as Liara took a step back as she paled, a nervous hand drawn up to her mouth. Her attention remained set on the new Asari however, fixing the stranger with a dark scowl, her expression unwavering as the Matron began to speak.

"I-I'm free? I suppose I should th-thank you for releasing me."

The whites of her eyes still tinged purple, she squinted at the team before dull recognition dawned over her features, along with a fresh welling of tears. The Commander remained stoic and impassive.

"How do I know this isn't some kind of trick?"

It was Liara who glared at the Commander, before moving to wrap the green Asari in a hug, ignoring the goo that bathed her. From over the Maiden's shoulder, the Asari shot Shepard an angry scowl.

"_This is not a trick_. The Thorian is dead and I am myself again. I am Shiala." She disentangled herself from Liara's embrace, a new nervousness taking over her as she refused to meet the younger Asari in the eye.

"I serve - _served_ - with Matriarch Benezia. When she allied herself with Saren, so did I, Benezia foresaw the influence Saren would have. She joined him in order to guide him down a gentler path. But he is compelling." She offered an ineffectual shrug. " The Matriarch lost her way."

Shepard's brow furrowed.

"You're saying Saren controls minds?"

Shiala merely shook her head. "Benezia underestimated Saren. As did I. We came to believe in his cause and his goals. The strength of his influence in troubling."

Liara's shoulders slumped and she whispered, forlornly, the expression on her face making the pit of Shepard's stomach drop.

"Mother sought to turn the river and was swept away."

Alarms bells were ringing in the Commander's head. She swallowed, trying to process the information.

"But- Matriarchs are some of the most powerful beings in the galaxy? How could she just.. _fall_ under Saren's control?"

"He-he has this vessel, an enormous warship unlike anything I've ever seen. He calls it Sovereign. It dominates the minds of his followers and they become... I don't know... _indoctrinated_ to Saren's will. It's subtle, at first. It can take days, weeks, months- but in the end, it is absolute." Her pleading eyes became downcast as shame radiated from her being, voice weak with regret.

"I was a willing slave when he brought me here. He needed my mind to communicate with the Thorian and learn its secrets. He offered me in a trade. I was sacrificed to secure an alliance between Saren and the Thorian."

Liara stood, her eyes dark as she attempted to make sense of the situation. Shiala had been one of Mother's most trusted acolytes. She failed to comprehend a situation wherein Shiala would leave the Matriarch's services willingly, nor one in which Benezia would just... _give her up_. She swallowed heavily. _Oh Mother... what have you gotten yourself into? _Beside the young Asari, Shepard stood, unbelieving, before giving a derisive snort.

"Seems like Saren's pretty quick to betray his own people."

"He was quick to betray the Thorian, too. After he had what he wanted, her ordered the Geth to destroy all evidence of its existence. Saren knows you are searching for the Conduit. He knows you are following his steps. He attacked the Thorian so you could not gain the Cipher."

Shepard's eyes narrowed as she struggled to maintain concentration on the conversation, the blood pumping through her ears in time with the pounding that pulsed through her temples proving painful distractions.

"Look-I-_What_ is the Cipher?" She eventually spat out, exasperated. "Why did Saren need it?"

"The Beacon on Eden Prime, it gave you visions. But they were unclear, confusing, sculpted for a Prothean mind. For one to truly comprehend them, you must think like a Prothean. You must understand their culture, their history, their very existence. The Thorian was here long before the Protheans built this city. It watched and studied them. When they died, it consumed them, assimilated them."

The Commander wiped a gauntlet blearily over her face, her vision dancing in front of her, wanting nothing more than to collapse into the nearest bed. _Hell, even a stack of cardboard boxes would do. _

"How can you teach someone to think like an extinct race?"

"Such knowledge cannot be taught. It simply exists."

"Whatever, look, all I know is that I need that knowledge to stop Saren."

Still standing, surrounded by the heavily armed party, Shiala thought for a moment, before her eyes shot hesitantly up to the Commander's.

"The-There is a way. I _can_ transfer the knowledge from my mind to yours. As I did with Saren."

"No, surely you can't mean...?" Liara unconsciously stepped between the Human and the Asari, searching the Acolyte's gaze before turning questioningly to Shepard.

"_A meld,_ Shepard. She will be in your mind. See all that is within you, your life, your experiences, your deepest fears and most closely held memories. _Your very essence_. Surely you of all people would not be comfortable with that?"

Shepard swayed slightly on the spot, struggling to keep focused on Liara's worried eyes and gave an ineffectual shrug.

"I-I'm not. But it's not like we have a choice, do we? I'm the one with the visions. I'm the one that needs the Cipher to understand them."

"She is right, Little Wing." Shiala placed a delicate hand on the younger Asari's shoulder. "But you need not worry. I shan't hurt her, or prey where I am unwelcome. It shall purely be a knowledge meld. Nothing more, nothing less. Unless you have a superior alternative?"

Liara stood with her mouth open, desperate to form words, thoughts to put a stop to the meld. After several seconds of fruitless searching, she rescinded, her frame slumping in defeat as she returned to her original position. Moving into the newly vacated space, Shiala joined hands with Shepard, touching foreheads while maintaining eye contact.

"Try to relax Commander. Let go of your physical shell..."

Shepard listened to the Acolytes words, her voice soft and soothing, lyrical and like honey in her ear. Shepard's breathing slowed as she could feel a drowsiness overcome her. A tingling rippled across her skin pleasantly as she could feel tickles of touch within her mind.

"...Embrace Eternity."

The Commander let out short gasp as icy pinpricks stabbed into her head, before the Beacon's visions exploded in front of her eyes once more. This time however, it appeared to be a more organised chaos. Fear still shot through her body at the sights but now it was less primal and infinitely more relatable. The sounds and smells contained within the vision were translated to those the Commander had experience with. Instead of the indescribably foul smelling _something_, Shepard was reminded of burning flesh mingling with smoke billowing in the air. For several seconds, her heart pounded, believing she was back on Torfan, across the street from the aflame Hospital. Before she could process the scene, it had shifted. Instead of shapes of unfathomable numbers raining death upon the Protheans, Shepard found herself outside the Gates of Elysium, watching with trepidation as Haliat and his slaver forces descended on the small Skyllian town. Before they managed to reach her, however, the sea of slavers swarmed, merging into the giant, unmistakable form of a Thresher Maw. The terrifying new fear of this unknown enemy Shepard had first felt upon discovering the species on Akuze flooded her senses as did her complete lack of knowledge on how best to combat the monstrosity. The feelings and senses began to merge, forming a sick menagerie of terror and uncertainty that gripped the Commander like a vice. Feeling as if she was drowning, Shepard began to thrash.

.

* * *

.

Watching Shiala initiate the meld with Shepard, Liara felt a most curious sensation boil within her. For the first time, in a long time, the young Maiden found herself _jealous_. The meld was a deeply spiritual and personal experience and contrary to popular opinion, Asari did not enter into such unions lightly. Even a knowledge meld, the shallowest of all joinings, required utmost trust and previous intimate knowledge of the recipient. Liara greatly respected and trusted Shiala. and dare she say, possessed a platonic love for the Acolyte that had at several points, been more of a Mother to a youthful Liara than Benezia ever had. It also made logical sense that it was she who had to join with Shepard to impart the knowledge of the Cipher. Regardless, there was a small petty voice, whining at the back of Liara's mind that at the end of the day, it should have been_ her_. Her to be the one that initiated Shepard's first meld, introducing her to one of the most basic tenets of Asari life. Although she showed no outwardly sign, Liara agreed with that voice and fed it encouragement.

It was Shepard who finally pulled Liara from herself indulgent thoughts, as she stumbled back, flailing, only to be caught by Garrus and his sharp reactions. To Liara's left, Ash scowled as her nostrils flared, her gun snapping to attention at the Acolyte even as she spoke to the Commander.

"What was that? Shepard, are you alright?"

Despite the muzzle pointed inches from her face, Shiala remained calm, her eyes glued to the dazed Commander.

"You have been given a great gift, the experience to share the information of an entire people. It will take time for your mind to process this information. I am sorry if you have suffered but it was the only way. You need the Cipher, and in time, it will help you understand the visions from the Beacon."

Opening her mouth to speak, Shepard immediately closed it once more, instead focusing on not losing her newly regained balance as she carefully stepped out from Garrus' grasp. Keeping a claw cautiously at her back, the Turian addressed the squad.

"Come on, let's get back to civilisation. I've had enough of ancient prophesies of death for one day."

.

* * *

.

Regaining some of her former composure, Shepard listened to Shiala as she spoke, mostly to Liara, about the Matriarch and Saren, confirming several of her worst fears. As they began the lengthy ascent up the large set of stairs, the Commander finally spoke up.

"Hey, now that you're free of the Thorian, what's the plan? I mean, are you sure you're not _- what - indoctrinated? _anymore?"

Shiala immediately cowed, her face falling into a serious pout.

"If-If you will allow it, I would like to stay here with colonists. They have suffered greatly and I have played a critical role in their pain. I would like to make amends." She swallowed, fear flashing across her eyes. "However, I am well aware the risks I pose. While I feel free of both the Thorian and Saren, I understand that I may be mistaken. I-I also understand the... _precautions_ that may have to be made-"

Shepard held up a hand, slowing her pace.

"Look, I'm not going to kill you. I've seen too much of that today. And the Colonists are in pretty bad shape. They'll need all the help they can get. I'm sure they'll be happy to have you on their side."

"I-I thank you, Commander!" A nervous grin spread across her rapidly flushing face. "You won't regret this."

Waving her away, Shepard stepped out into the blinding sun, her bleary eyes accustomed to the dank darkness of the pits below. Her fatigue made itself known once more, no longer willing to be pushed aside and ignored. Motioning Ashley towards Tali and the two new marines guarding the caged colonists, Shepard set off for the Normandy, Liara and Garrus in tow.

Stepping through the airlock, the Commander saw Kaidan reading a data pad at the entrance to the cockpit. Her and Liara's earlier conversation in the Mako came to the forefront of her mind and the revelation of the latter's crush flickered across consciousness. Upon seeing his Commanding Officer, Kaidan shot off a warm smile, immediately doused by Shepard's icy glare as she marched into the CIC. Confused, he met Liara's eyes who managed a more intensified pout, managing to unnerve Kaidan slightly. Last to appear was Garrus, who had watched the exchange, who met the marine's perplexed gaze with a sympathetic flaring of his mandibles and a small shrug, before he too departed down the CIC.

Kaidan watched as Shepard disappeared into the Debriefing Room and Liara down the stairs before shaking his head. _Women_. He snorted. _And Not-Really-But-Kind-Of-Pretty-Much Women._

_._

* * *

_._

Having deposited her armour swiftly in the cargo bay, Liara sat at the Mess Table, tea in hand and deep in thought, the day's excursion replaying through her mind's eye. Idly, she watched as Shepard trudged tiredly down the stairs, finally freed from the Council's Debrief and Liara's thoughts came to settle on their meeting with Shiala. Jealousy still bubbled away within her, but the scientist within the Asari began rapidly filtering ideas through her mind. Along with the Beacon, Shepard had the accumulated knowledge of the Protheans embedded in her mind, the very essence of their existence. And more data on their ultimate demise. Standing in front of her, carefully packing away her armour in her locker, was the richest fountain of knowledge Liara had come across in over fifty years of study, the closest she could ever hope to coming near a real live Prothean. It would be criminal to pass such an opportunity up. _Plus_, the petty, childish voice in her head chimed in. _The Commander has already proven open to melding..._

Setting her cup aside, Liara stood before carefully measuring her steps towards Shepard. Now only in her under suit, the Commander noted the Asari's approach, shooting her a hazy grin.

"'S'up, Blue? Since when did you take a level in bad ass? Those were some sweet moves out there. You kicked hell'a ass today!"

Liara did not return The Commander's grin, instead focusing on the light sheen of sweat that hung on her brow and pallid complexion of her skin. The woman looked sick.

"Shepard, are-are you alright? You look... _pale_. Are you suffering any ill effects from the Cipher?"

The Human snorted. "Nah," She shook her head, making a conscious effort not to acknowledge how it felt as if her brain was sloshing about in her skull. "Shook me up a bit. No biggie. I'll walk it off."

"_'No Biggie'?_ A Geth Armature exploded inches from your face. You irreparably damaged hearing in your left ear and had the essence of a fifty thousand year old species implanted into your mind. How exactly do you plan to _'walk that off'_?"

Shepard at least had the decency to look embarrassed, her eyes falling to the ground as she kicked at the metal tile with her foot. Not wanting to lose her nerve, Liara ploughed on.

"Actually, that was what I wanted to talk to you about. I-I might be able to help you make sense of the visions." She gave a bashful smile. "I _am_ an expert on Protheans, after all. If I join my consciousness to yours, perhaps we can make better sense of this?"

Shepard's posture straightened as she examined Liara, but before she could give the offer much thought, the violent pounding in her head had decided for her.

"I-yeah, okay. Do it. But be careful, yeah? It kinda hurt when Shiala tried it."

Liara's brow knit as she mimicked the words and actions of the Acolyte. Melding shouldn't hurt. At least, not between two compatible souls. The petty child within felt a flare of vindication. She knew Shepard better than Shiala. She was infinitely better suited to meld with her._ Goddess, you're going to meld with her. A _knowledge meld, perhaps but following the Commander's revelation regarding Kaidan, she would take it.

Shepard felt the momentary thrust of weightlessness before the visions repeated. However, unlike with Shiala, the Commander wasn't merely being inundated with data. Instead she felt Liara beside her, within her, exploring and cataloguing the memories currently filtering through their consciousness, their combined minds halving the workload. Once again, the sights, smells and sounds were notably sharper and more apparent. The reek of burning flesh returned, stronger than it had ever originally been, making her gag. Overwhelmed and weakened by the strength of the memory, others began flooding her, the muddle of different fears and horrors bringing with them the drowning sensation. Liara, ever present, felt the Commander beginning to panic and swiftly extracted them from the vision and instead initiating another memory that radiated a more positive energy.

Shepard gasped. Taking a moment to centre herself, getting comfortable in her seat and examining her reflection in the dull terminal screen in front of her. She was greeted by her own face, younger, lacking the lines and creases that ten years of military life had wrung. She was more gaunt than she had been in a long time, before a steady supply of filling, if not nutritious Alliance rations allowed herself to build muscle mass. She felt the memory of uncertainty flash over her. There was a stark loneliness and fear of being unwanted that lingered in her person. Before she could ruminate further, she saw a movement in the nearby doorway, drawing her attention.

There stood a girl, slight in build and short in stature. Her delicate features and long, almost white hair giving her the appearance of child far younger than one would guess. Her eyes held a steadfast determination however, as she looked over Shepard, examining her. Taking the elder teenager's silence as an invitation to come in, Ivy moved closer, her eyes never leaving Shepard's face.

"You still thinking about what was said earlier?"

Shepard gave a small shrug in response, her eyes dropping to her lap. Ivy's brow furrowed as she chose her next words carefully.

"Look, David and Roo didn't mean it like that. Of course they don't want to _'get rid of you'_. They," She swallowed, struggling to voice her thoughts without causing further offence. "They just want you to be happy. You're not happy here."

"_Where would I be happy then_?" Shepard bit back, her hackles raised. "I'm useless. If I'm not hurting people for money, I'm threatening to hurt people for money. David's actually setting up something legit here. It's just a matter of time before I fuck it up, get the police drawn here, or those goddamn _Jaune _assholes from Calais-"

"Alex, would you shut up for a minute?" Ivy gave a small laugh. "Let me speak, okay? We're not wanting to kick you out. Far from it. And you're not useless. Look at _us_. David, Roo, me, James and everyone else. Are you proud of us?"

"I-what?" Shepard screwed up her face, thrown off guard by the question. "Of course."

"Well _you_ did that. Everything that we are today, who we are, is because of you. You manage to bring out the best in people, not just us. There's a reason Pitt puts you in charge of all the Reds' squad assignments." She sat down in a nearby seat, reclining. "Use that. You keep going on about how you're nothing more than thug, good only for fucking or fighting. So join the Alliance. You always wanted to travel right? Find your friend?"

Over the course of Ivy's spiel, Shepard's scowl had melted into a small pout. It was several moments before she spoke.

"You don't need me anymore." A small, rueful chuckle. "You're growing up. All of you."

Ivy responded with a small smile.

"That's what kids do." She sat forward, looking to inject some levity into the conversation, placing a delicate hand on the elder's knee. "Look, we go to Dodgy Dave from down the Arches, get him to knock together some papers by the weekend. You could pass for eighteen, right? First thing Monday, we'll get you down the recruiting office and by then end of the month, you'll be in Reykjavik, or Vladivostok or wherever it is they do army stuff." She waved her hand dismissively "I was never good at geology."

Not having the heart to correct her, Shepard merely welcomed her into her arms, feeling a calm warmth spread through her. _Family. Safety_. Even if she thought their opinions of her were wrong and false, they were there for her. Opening her eyes she spotted Liara, lingering in the doorway, watching the scene. Slowly her senses returned to her. This was a memory, she was on Feros and the images from the vision began seeping back into her psyche. Fear began to creep into her emotions. Sensing this, Liara stepped forward. Like a ghost, Shepard stepped through the still hugging Ivy and accepted the Asari's hand. A wave of confidence flowed from Liara to the Commander and with a deep breath, they delved back into the Vision.

It started off slowly enough, but Liara was soon overcome by Shepard's own fatigue. Struggling to keep back the torrent of images, Liara's barriers finally broke and the pair were buffeted by the full extent of the vision. The hospital once again assaulted their senses. The Thresher Maw diving for them, it's jaws open and rancid breath coating them in flecks of acidic spittle. Ivy, cold, pale and deathly still in Shepard's arms on dreary Elysian cobbles. Liara could only watch, powerless to help in any capacity.

And then it was over, with an almost audible _thwump_ and they were back in the Mess Hall. Liara stared at nothing in particular as she attempted to process the information. A hesitant grin slowly spread across her face.

"That was incredible! All this time, all this research! Yet I never dreamed... I-I'm sorry. The images were so vivid. I never imagined the experience would be so... _intense_." Spinning around, she saw Ash, Garrus and Tali watching them, with various levels of amusement written across their faces. Ash raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Did you see anything?"

Liara nodded animatedly as she set off, her words running into each other as she failed to stop for breath.

"The beacon on Eden Prime must have been terribly damaged. Large parts of the vision is missing. The data transferred into the Commander's mind is incomplete."

"You sure you didn't come across any kind of clue or hint?" Garrus' mandible flared thoughtfully. "Something we might have missed?"

Liara's brow furrowed as she shook her head.

"Everything I saw, we already knew. She was right about the Reapers, the Protheans. And the conduit is most definitely connected, _somehow_. But there was nothing _new_ to aid us."

"So what's our next move?" Tali's head cocked to the side as she folded her arms, leaning on the back of a nearby chair.

"Well, I was able to interpret the data relayed through her vision. What was there at least. But something was missing. Something instrumental. Saren must possess it. Perhaps he found another Beacon. If we can find the missing data from the Vision, I'm certain I could- Commander?"

Liara had turned around to address the Human once more, but stopped abruptly at the sight in front of her. Shepard's bulging eyes were glazed over, flicking rapidly from left to right as if reading fast scrolling text. She showed no sign of having listened, or even heard anything the Asari had said. Her face was ashen and sweat visibly ebbed its way down her forehead. It was the thin trickle of blood that appeared from her nose that finally jolted Liara into action, seizing the Commander by her shoulders. Her muttered speech became more frantic before she began to wretch. There was a flare of consciousness that sparked through her eyes, as she caught Liara's gaze, terrified, pleading, before she collapsed, darkness swallowing her.

.

* * *

.

Shepard didn't despise hangovers like everyone else. Or, at least, she accepted them dutifully after a night of hard drinking, paying the toll for the previous' evenings shenanigans. What she did despise, however, was when the cosmic forces that be decided to bless her with one when she had done no drinking to earn it. That was beginning to happen a lot, lately. And Shepard was getting fed up.

She vaguely recalled waking up several hours before, but those memories were as reliable as the already fading visions from the Beacon. She lay for heaven knows how long, slowly allowing her senses to return to her. The smell of antiseptic filled her nose first, confirming she had somehow made it to the Med Bay. A few minutes later, she was aware of an unmistakable blue blur nestled in a chair at her bedside. Swallowing a few times to ensure her throat was in working order, Shepard eventually managed to speak, her voice little more than a croak.

"You checking up on me, Blue?"

The dozing Asari started awake, her large, lamp like eyes settling anxiously on the dishevelled Commander.

"Goddess, Shepard! You had me worried there, I- don't do that to me." She sighed, regaining her composure slightly. " Doctor Chakwas assured me you should be fine." Her head ducked slightly as a light purple spread across her cheeks. "I-I _may_ have lost control slightly and pushed you slightly beyond your limits. I forgot that Humans do not meld like Asari. This would have been one of your first experiences, in addition to everything that already happened today, you were in no fit condition to meld. I- _sorry_."

Shepard managed a small smile and shake of her head. "Nonsense. I agreed to it, didn't I?"

Liara returned the smile, before the pair lapsed into a comfortable silence for several minutes. Shepard watched as the Asari at her bedside struggled to find her words, a query on the tip of her tongue.

"Can I ask you a question?" She finally said. Receiving a nod, she continued. "Your memories, your being, _your mind_ - even when you were calm, everything moved so fast, and so... on _edge_. Do all humans live so hectically? I mean, I had heard the rumours and have worked with several humans in my time, but they are so hard for galactic races to take seriously. Everything about your species is so rushed and high strung."

Shepard gave a small shrug. "We don't have the luxury of time. We have to fit a thousand years worth of living into just over a hundred. And that's for the people who don't throw themselves in front of bullets and explosions as part of their nine to five. At this rate I'll be lucky to hit fifty."

Liara nodded, her stomach flipping unpleasantly at the thought of the Commander parting so soon. It felt wrong that someone so vivid and complex should have the lifespan of a mayfly.

"That is true. At first, I believed it to be a weakness of your species. But now, I think it may actually be an advantage. The experiences of your childhood could fill a book. I would struggle to amount a footnote." She saw Shepard's brow furrow, a retort on her lips, but Liara gave her no chance to interrupt. "You humans are creatures of action, none more so than you, Alex. You pursue your goal with an almost indomitable determination. It is an admirable trait. But also an intimidating one."

"You think I'm scary?" Shepard's features fell, disappointed in herself that Liara could entertain such a notion, and, as she was painfully aware, not without reason. Liara averted her gaze sheepishly.

"Unfortunately, the Galaxy sees Humanity as something of a bully. You run over anyone in your path to get what you want. It is up to people like you to change their minds, Shepard."

The Human sat, her face set in a contemplative frown. She didn't hear a _'no'_ in response to her question. "Well, I-I mean, I'm _trying_. I'm doing the best I can...but why just me?"

"There is a reason the Council chose you to become a Spectre. They saw something special in you - the best humanity has to offer."

Liara cleared her throat before speaking again, an audible waver in her voice.

"I-I looked into your history, while you were unconscious. What you did during the Blitz, it was a remarkable display of courage and heroism. And, I-I saw... Torfan and Akuze. I..." She trailed off, failing to verbalise the words. Shepard's stomach sank at the Asari's revelation, the gnawing fear that had accompanied her since rejoining with Liara swarming her mind. _She knows what you've done. What you are._ Already she could feel the shutters slamming down in her mind, a wall of anger rising for her to hide behind.

"You didn't need to go behind my back. You could have just _asked_." Shepard bit, glaring ferociously in the opposite direction of the Asari, afraid to look her in the eyes, of what she would find. As if reading her mind, Liara responded calmly, only the faintest hints of exasperation in her voice.

"You skirted around the topics before. I wanted to know more about you. To understand what made you into the woman you are. There is... something compelling about you, Shepard."

"You're just interested in me because of that damned Beacon. You just want to know more about the Protheans." Her angry glare flickered over to the Asari's knees, Shepard wanting nothing more than to disappear and be swallowed whole by the pillows behind her.

"_No_." Liara retorted, anger welling in her tones. "I'll admit, your connection with the Protheans _does_ intrigue me. But... it's more than that. _You're my friend_. I'm worried about you, Alex. I see it. When you think no one is looking, the hatred-"

"_I_ _don't hate things_!" Shepard's eyes finally shot up, wild, meeting Liara's own. "I never- I mean, once. Twice maybe I let it get the better of me, affect my judgement. But I don't make those decisions lightly. I make them because I have to. _Because someone has to_. Those children, on Torfan. They turned them into weapons. They had to die. That Hospital. if I left it, they would heal. Come back, stronger and angrier than before. I had to. For the greater good. I don't care if that makes me a- an _abomination_. A monster. I don't care if people hate me for it. I do what I have to do. No matter what that makes me."

A tense silence fell. Shepard hadn't noticed how heavily her heart was pumping until it began to calm. When her breathing relaxed, she spoke again, quiet.

"I understand if you want to leave. If you don't feel comfortable around me. We-we can drop you off on the Citadel. I won't hold it against you."

Liara remained quiet in her seat. A scowl began to formulate on the Commander's face.

"Aren't you going to-"

"_No_." She spoke calmly, but in a tone that brokered no argument and continued, as if the previous outburst had not taken place. "As I was saying, you have this look, when you think no one is watching. You hate yourself beyond belief. And it is ridiculous. Every decision you make, no matter how small, you examine under a microscope, judging yourself harshly at every turn. I do not doubt that you had your reasons for your actions. I trust that you strive to do your best, constantly and consistently and uphold your beliefs with utmost conviction. That is what made you a Spectre. That is what drives people to follow your every word. That is why you are brilliant. Why I and so many others throughout the Galaxy find you so... _compelling_."

Her tone softened, a weak smile spreading across her lips.

"It seems the only person incapable of seeing that is you. And _No_-" She added, sensing Shepard was about to speak. "-I do not hate you. I don't think I ever could. Quite the opposite, in fact."

"I... thank you." Shepard managed, lamely. Silence fell once more as the pair mulled over the freshly spoken words, oddly comforted by them. Her thoughts returned to the conversation in the Mako. Shepard had grown up fighting for anything and everything she wanted. She couldn't deny she wanted Liara. She swallowed, eventually deciding to throw caution to the wind.

"Hey, Liara-?"

The door to the Med Bay swished open, Chakwas and Kaidan entering, talking quietly, the Lieutenant possessing what appeared to be the onset symptoms of a migraine. Shepard's eyes flickered back to Liara, who was blooming in colour, her eyes glued to the new additions, before she wrenched her attention back to the Commander.

"Yes?"

"I-ah- _nothing_." Shepard muttered. "I'll save it for later." Seeing the blush on Liara's face at the appearance of her fellow marine, what little adrenaline fuelled confidence she had drained and a futile sense of foolishness trickled through her being.

"I-I should go." Liara murmured and Shepard gave a polite nod of her head, watching as the Asari vanished behind the door to her lab. With a heavy sigh, Shepard let her head fall back onto the pillow, willing the darkness to claim her again, if only for a little while.


End file.
